| Abstract Detail
Systematics/Phytogeography / Taxonomie/ Section Salvo, Gabriele [1], Conti, Elena [1], Manafzadeh, Sara [1]. Systematics and evolution of the Irano-Turanian genus Haplophyllum A. Juss. (Rutaceae). Haplophyllum comprises around 70 species and reaches maximum diversity in Iran and Central Asia, with a few species extending to eastern Asia and the Mediterranean basin. Most species are narrow endemics, a feature that makes them especially vulnerable to extinction. The genus has been studied primarily from a morphological and phytochemical point of view, for both taxonomic and medical purposes. However, no hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships are available for Haplophyllum, thus hindering our understanding of the evolution of diversity in the genus. Consequently, we generated detailed phylogenies from DNA sequences of three regions of the chloroplast genome and one region of the nuclear genome. While most of the endemic species were found to be monophyletic, the species with the most widespread geographical distribution were non-monophyletic. This suggests that species delimitation is particularly difficult for these “species complexes“, which may include unrecognized cryptic species. To further improve the elucidation of species boundaries, Haplophyllum was also examined morphologically. The morphological analyses also showed that the narrow endemics can be defined by specific morphological characteristics, whereas the widespread species exhibit a wide range of variation across their range and can only be diagnosed by combinations of character states. Finally, morphological and ecological characters were mapped on the molecular phylogeny to investigate the traits that may limit the success of the rare species of Haplophyllum, thus contributing to the development of sound conservation strategies.
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1 - Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zürich, CH-8008, Switzerland
Keywords:
Haplophyllum
species delimitation
morphology
endemism
ecology.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Ball Room & Party Room/SUB
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2008
Time: 12:30 PM
Number: PSP083
Abstract ID:733 |
