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- Title
Phylogeny of subsect. Meleuphorbia (A. Berger) Pax & Hoffm. (Euphorbia L.) reflects the climatic regime in South Africa.
- Authors
Ritz, C. M.; Zimmermann, N. F. A.; Hellwig, F. H.
- Abstract
The nuclear ITS region and four noncoding cpDNA regions were directly sequenced to reconstruct the phylogeny of subsect. Meleuphorbia (Euphorbia L.), which is endemic to South Africa. Sequence polymorphism within cpDNA regions was too low to permit phylogenetic analyses. Large deletions including the ctp2-atpB proximal promoter in the atpB-rbcL IGS were found in two individuals. Phylogeny of subsect. Meleuphorbia was reconstructed using nrITS sequence data. The two resulting major clades are consistent with the geographic distribution of the investigated taxa. Plants distributed in the winter rainfall area in the Little Karoo form one clade, plants growing in the Great Karoo with predominant summer rainfall form the other. Subsect. Meleuphorbia is not monophyletic, because members of subsect. Anthacantha are clustered within the meleuphorbias. Both share functional unisexuality, form angled stems and the key character of Anthacantha (inflorescence spines) occurs as a transitional stage in form of persistent peduncles in Meleuphorbia.
- Subjects
SOUTH Africa; EUPHORBIA; EUPHORBIACEAE; PLANT phylogeny; DNA; GENETIC polymorphisms
- Publication
Plant Systematics & Evolution, 2003, Vol 241, Issue 3/4, p245
- ISSN
0378-2697
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00606-003-0064-4