Mapped cpDNA restriction site characters were analyzed cladistically and the resulting phylogenetic hypotheses were used to test monophyly and relationships of the infrageneric classification of Lathyrus (Fabaceae) proposed by Kupicha (1983, Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 41: 209–244). The validity of previously proposed classification systems and questions presented...
Plantago ovata Forssk. (Plantaginaceae) is a species that, in North America, inhabits desert and Mediterranean habitats of the southwest United States, northwest Mexico, and the Channel Islands of California and Mexico. In the Eastern Hemisphere, P. ovata inhabits desert regions ranging from the Canary Islands, across northern Africa to India....
To explore the biogeographic history of Mediterranean/arid plant disjunctions, Old and New World Senecio sect. Senecio were analyzed phylogenetically using nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences (ITS). A clade corresponding to sect. Senecio was strongly supported. Area optimization indicated this clade to be of southern African origin. The Mediterranean and southern African...
Species of Botrychium reproduce by spores that form subterranean gametophytes and a few, like B. pumicola, also reproduce asexually with subterranean sporophytic gemmae. The goal of this study was to examine the genetic diversity of B. pumicola populations and to better understand the role of gemmae. Ninety-nine individuals from three...
The nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region has been characterized in the sister genera Larix and Pseudotsuga (Pinaceae). Complete sequences were obtained for seven species of Larix from North America and Eurasia and five species of Pseudotsuga from western North America and eastern Asia. ITS region lengths...
Astragalus oniciformis Barneby is a narrow endemic xerophyte of the upper Snake River Plain of central Idaho, USA, where it inhabits stabilized, aeolian sand deposits and previously burned, sandy sites over Quaternary basalt flows. The objective of this study was to determine the levels and distribution of genetic differentiation within...
Sequence data from nrITS and cpDNA have failed to fully resolve phylogenetic relationships among Pinus species. Four low‐copy nuclear genes, developed from the screening of 73 mapped conifer anchor loci, were sequenced from 12 species representing all subsections. Individual loci do not uniformly support either the nrITS or cpDNA hypotheses...
Organellar DNA sequences are widely used in evolutionary and population genetic studies, however, the conservative nature of chloroplast gene and genome evolution often limits phylogenetic resolution and statistical power. To gain maximal access to the historical record contained within chloroplast genomes, we have adapted multiplex sequencing-by-synthesis (MSBS) to simultaneously sequence...
Uncertainties in the age and phylogenetic position of Pinaceae fossils present significant obstacles to our understanding of the timing of diversification in the family. We demonstrate that simultaneous phylogenetic analyses of chloroplastDNA(matK and rbcL) and nonmolecular characters that include both extant genera and a limited number of fossil taxa provide...