Phylogenetic Relationships in Euphorbieae (Euphorbiaceae) Based on ITS and ndhF Sequence Data

By V. Steinmann, J. Porter. 2002

177 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The monophyly and phylogenetic relationships of the tribe Euphorbieae (Euphorbiaceae) were evaluated using separate weighted maximum parsimony analyses of nucleotide sequences of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and cpDNA coding region ndhF. The study included 223 ingroup species representing nearly all of the previously recognized genera, subgenera, and sections within the Euphorbieae and 4 outgroup taxa from the tribe Hippomaneae (Euphorbiaceae). Both the ITS and ndhF analyses support the monophyly of Euphorbieae in addition to the monophyly of its three subtribes, Anthosteminae, Neoguillauminiinae, and Euphorbiinae. Within Euphorbiinae, there are four major clades, only one of which corresponds with a previously recognized taxon; the three remaining clades are conglomerates of various subgenera and sections. The majority of the subtribe is composed of a paraphyletic Euphorbia. All other genera currently recognized in the subtribe are nested within Euphorbia. In addition, Synadenium and Endadenium are nested within Monadenium. Within Euphorbia, the majority of the currently recognized subgenera are either paraphyletic or polyphyletic. Biogeographical patterns examined in light of the molecular evidence suggest that the tribe Euphorbieae arose in Africa, possibly before the breakup of Gondwanaland, at which time the major lineages of subtribe Euphorbiinae were already present. It is argued that the best solution for Euphorbia classification is a broad circumscription of Euphorbia that contains all of the about 2000 species of the subtribe Euphorbiinae.

Subfields: Biochemistry, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/42b2c0f1e8502f5f6b72deeae001d6a1609d5592

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In Biochemistry

1. P. Berry
2. J. Morawetz
3. R. Riina
4. Thomas Haevermans
5. X. Aubriot
6. D. Frodin

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. P. Berry
2. R. Riina
3. J. Morawetz
4. Thomas Haevermans
5. X. Aubriot
6. D. Frodin
7. E. Edwards
8. Richard M. Cowling

In Plant Science

1. P. Berry
2. R. Riina
3. J. Morawetz
4. Thomas Haevermans
5. X. Aubriot
6. D. Frodin
7. E. Edwards
8. Richard M. Cowling

Citations in the corpus

• Molecular phylogenetics and classification of Euphorbia subgenus Chamaesyce (Euphorbiaceae) (2012, methodology): “Three of these six previous studies supported a single origin of New World taxa from an Old World grade within subg.”
• Phylogenetics, morphological evolution, and classification of Euphorbia subgenus Euphorbia (2013, methodology): “Over the past decade, molecular phylogenetic studies have made much progress in understanding the broad-scale relationships within Euphorbia (Steinmann & Porter, 2002; Bruyns & al., 2006, 2011; Park & Jansen, 2007; Horn & al., 2012; Yang & al., 2012).”
• History and Concepts of Big Plant Genera (2004, background): “Such long-recognised segregates as Elaeophorbia, Monadenium and Pedilanthus are little more than specialised sidelines of Euphorbia, and recently Chamaesyce and Poinsettia were both found to be nested within the broad Agaloma alliance (cf. Park & Elisens, 2000; Steinmann & Porter, 2002).”
• On the origin of southern African subtropical thicket vegetation (2005, background): “A recent phylogeny (Steinmann and Porter 2002) indicates that most of the subgenera and sections of Euphorbia, as previously defined, are polyphyletic.”
• Angiosperm Responses to a Low-CO2 World: CAM and C4 Photosynthesis as Parallel Evolutionary Trajectories (2012, background): “For example, it is now clear that Chamaesyce, a mostly C4 lineage, is nested squarely in Euphorbia, a large clade containing many origins of CAM (Steinmann and Porter 2002).”
• A worldwide molecular phylogeny and classification of the leafy spurges, Euphorbia subgenus Esula (Euphorbiaceae) (2013, methodology): “The chloroplast ndhF gene was amplified as two overlapping fragments using primers 536f and 1318r (Ol - mstead & Sweere, 1994) for the 5′ region, and primers 1000f (TAGGTATGGGGTCTTWTCG) designed in the Berry lab and 2110ri (Steinmann & Porter, 2002) for the 3′ region.”