The worldwide holoparasitic Apodanthaceae confidently placed in the Cucurbitales by nuclear and mitochondrial gene trees.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Of the c. 450 families of flowering plants, only two are left "unplaced" in the most recent APG classification of angiosperms. One of these is the Apodanthaceae, a clade of c. 19 holoparasitic species in two or three genera occurring in North and South America, Africa, the Near East, and Australia. Because of lateral gene transfer between Apodanthaceae and their hosts it has been difficult to infer the family's true closest relatives.

Results

Here we report a phylogenetic analysis of 16 accessions representing six species of Apodanthaceae from the United States, Chile, Iran, and Australia, using the mitochondrial matR gene and the nuclear 18S gene. Data matrices include 190 matR sequences from up to 95 families in 39 orders of flowering plants and 197 18S sequence

SUBMITTER: Filipowicz N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3055242 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature