Molecular circumscription and major evolutionary lineages of the fern genus Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae).

ABSTRACT:

Background

The fern genus Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) is among the most common and species rich fern genera in temperate forests in the northern hemisphere containing 225-300 species worldwide. The circumscription of Dryopteris has been controversial and various related genera have, over the time, been included in and excluded from Dryopteris. The infrageneric phylogeny has largely remained unclear, and the placement of the majority of the supraspecific taxa of Dryopteris has never been tested using molecular data.

Results

In this study, DNA sequences of four plastid loci (rbcL gene, rps4-trnS spacer, trnL intron, trnL-F spacer) were used to reconstruct the phylogeny of Dryopteris. A total of 122 accessions are sampled in our analysis and they represent 100 species of the e

SUBMITTER: Zhang LB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3483261 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature