XVI International Botanical Congess
The nuclear encoded glycerol-3-phosphate acyl transferase gene (GPAT) has been found to be single copy in a number of angiosperm families. We investigated the phylogenetic utility of the GPAT gene in determining the interspecific relationships of the angiosperm genus Paeonia. The rate of evolution of the gene was determined to be greater than that of the nuclear ITS region in Paeonia, demonstrating its potential to be used as a phylogenetic marker in angiosperms to resolve low-level taxonomic relationships. The phylogeny of Paeonia based on the GPAT gene was compared with other gene phylogenies, such as the cpDNA matK gene, ITS region and the alcohol dehydrogenase genes. Characterization of the GPAT gene from P. anomala suggests that in this species the gene contains a large retrotransposon-like insertion that may or may not disrupt its function.