ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess

Abstract Number: 2251
Poster No. = 413


MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF THE ASTERISCUS ALLIANCE: ETS, ITS AND ndhF DATA


Goertzen, L.R.*, J. Francisco-Ortega#, A. Santos-Guerra§, C.R. Linder* and R.K. Jansen*. *Dept. Bot., Univ. Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78713, #Dept. Biol. Sci., Florida Int. Univ., Miami, FL 33199, §Jard. Aclim. Orotava, Canary Islands, Spain.


The three Macaronesian and Mediterranean genera comprising the Asteriscus alliance (Asteriscus, Ighermia and Nauplius) form a morphologically distinct, low-chromosome number group of 14 species within the Asteraceae tribe Inuleae. We examine variation in the external transcribed spacer (ETS) region of the rDNA for these rapidly evolved island plants, and compare phylogenetic hypotheses based on these characters to data from the ITS spacers and the chloroplast gene ndhF. Fully resolved ETS and combined ETS/ITS/ndhF phylogenies allow us to address character evolution, typification problems, and the role of the Macaronesian enclave of NW Africa in the historical biogeography of the alliance.

HTML-Version made 7. July 1999 by Kurt Stüber