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Molecular phylogeny of the endemic fern genera Cyrtomidictyum and Cyrtogonellum (Dryopteridaceae) from East Asia

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Abstract

Cyrtomidictyum Ching and Cyrtogonellum Ching are two eastern Asian endemic genera whose taxonomic affinities and phylogenetic relationships have long been controversial. The main uncertainty surrounds the separation of the two genera from the species-rich genus Polystichum. Here we present a phylogenetic study focusing on the phylogenetic relationships of these polystichoid ferns. We reconstructed the relationships based on DNA sequence variation in four chloroplast genome regions, rbcL, atpB, and the intergenic spacers (IGS) rps4-trnS and trnL-trnF. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses confirm earlier results that were based on less comprehensive taxon sampling and either only a single gene (rbcL) or two IGS (rps4-trnS and trnL-trnF). Cyrtomidictyum is the sister of the clade of polystichoid ferns that includes Cyrtogonellum, Cyrtomium subser. Balansana and three sections of Polystichum. Cyrtogonellum groups with several species of Polystichum, and constitutes the sister taxon to Polystichum sect. Sphaenopolystichum. We support the recognition of Cyrtomidictyum as circumscribed initially, rather than expansion of the genus to include either several Polystichum species or Cyrtogonellum, some Polystichum and Cyrtomium species. The monophyly of Cyrtomidictyum is supported by morphological characters such as once-pinnate leaves, free venation, prolongated leaf apices, and exindusiate sori. Two synapomorphic indels in the chloroplast genome, one 15-bp deletion in rps4-trnS, and one 3-bp insertion in trnL-trnF further differentiate Cyrtomidictyum from other polystichoid ferns. The close affinity of Cyrtogonellum to section Sphaenopolystichum of Polystichum s.s. is highly supported by molecular data. However, no shared morphological characters or molecular indels have been detected, although the distinctness of Cyrtogonellum is shown by a 13-bp insertion in the rps4-trnS alignment.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Changhan Li, Xiaoxia Wang, Hao Zhang and Yongle Chen for providing plant materials of Cyrtomidictyum, and Dr. Harald Schneider and an anonymous reviewer for their suggestions and comments. We are grateful to Prof. Joachim W. Kadereit for corrections and comments on this paper. This research was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Fund Project (No. 20080430259), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30470139 and 30770166), and by Shen Zhen Bureau of Science and Information of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory for Environmental and Urban Sciences, Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen, 518055, People’s Republic of China

    Hong-Mei Liu & Hui Zeng

  2. State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, People’s Republic of China

    Xian-Chun Zhang & Wei Wang

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  1. Hong-Mei Liu
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  2. Xian-Chun Zhang
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  4. Hui Zeng
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Correspondence to Hui Zeng.

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Liu, HM., Zhang, XC., Wang, W. et al. Molecular phylogeny of the endemic fern genera Cyrtomidictyum and Cyrtogonellum (Dryopteridaceae) from East Asia. Org Divers Evol 10, 57–68 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-010-0010-6

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