Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Schori, Melanie [1].

A phylogenetic analysis of Gomphandra (Stemonuraceae).

Gomphandra Wall. ex Lindl. is the largest genus in the family Stemonuraceae (Aquifoliales). The genus is distributed throughout Southeast Asia and Melanesia and co-occurs with seven of the other 11 genera in the family. A three-gene analysis of ten taxa, using the trnL intron, the trnL-F spacer, and matK, provides the first estimate of phylogeny within Gomphandra. The analysis was rooted with Ilex (Aquifoliaceae) and three other genera of Stemonuraceae. Stemonuraceae is well-supported (100% bootstrap value) as a clade and shares a 100 bp TA repeat region in the trnL-F spacer, a synapomorphy not found in Ilex or any other taxon. Two clades within Gomphandra were moderately supported. Members of one clade have axillary inflorescences while those in the other clade have terminal inflorescences. Current taxon sampling suggests the terminal inflorescence position is derived with respect to the outgroup. Eight of the ten taxa included in the analysis are from the Philippines. All five members of the “terminal” clade are Philippine, but the “axillary” clade includes one Indonesian and one Australian species. Philippine G. mappioides is sister to Indonesian G. javanica, while other Philippine species in the clade form a polytomy with the mappioides + javanica pair. G. mappioides, which also occurs in Indonesia, is morphologically similar to both G. javanica and an endemic Philippine species, but the analysis indicates that similarities in morphology do not necessarily reflect the geographic proximity of taxa. In other words, taxa with similar morphologies from different regions may be more closely related to each other than to taxa with similar morphologies from the same region. As more taxa are added to the analysis, representing the “terminal” morphology from Continental Asia and the “axillary” morphology from Melanesia and Borneo, support for these clades is expected to increase, and additional clades are expected to appear within the species-rich “axillary” clade. Biogeographical inferences of dispersal and speciation events will be possible when a resolved phylogeny is available.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Ohio University, Department of Environmental & Plant Biology, 315 Porter Hall, Athens, OH, 45701, USA

Keywords:
Gomphandra
Stemonuraceae
Aquifoliales
molecular phylogeny
trnL-F spacer
trnL intron
matK.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 37
Location: 556B/Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Time: 1:00 PM
Number: 37001
Abstract ID:394