Recent insights into species diversity and relationships in Capsicum L.

BARBOZA G. E.; CARRIZO GARCÍA, C.; EHRENDORFER, F.

Davis

Congreso; The 13th Solanaceae Conference 2016, SolGenomics: From Advances to Applications; 2016

University of California

Capsicum L. (Solanaceae) is a genus of greateconomic importance because it includes the renowned sweet and hot chilipeppers. Apart from the five cultivated species, there are ca. 30 poorly knownwild species, distributed from Mexico to Brazil, Paraguay and Central Argentina.The species diversity of the genus has not been exhaustively analyzed so far,and therefore, the number of species, their delimitation and relationships arenot yet completely understood. Capsicumspecies predominantly have the chromosome base number of x = 12, but x = 13 isregistered in two particular clades. There are several partial studies thatdeal with different groups of species but only recently a comprehensiveanalysis of the total genus diversity and evolution has been done by ourresearch group. The current meeting offersthe opportunity to present our results on Capsicumspecies diversification and relationships, and to discuss them within the contextof our more recent phylogenetic analyses.Altogether, severalclades of more closely allied species and some isolated species are recognized.The most basal and unique Capsicum species belong to a clade native tothe northern Andes and adjacent Central America with non-pungent red fruits andx = 13. The current territories of Bolivia and Peru as well as the Andes of NWSouth America have to be regarded as the most important centers of diversificationconcerning several not closely related lineages with x = 12. The AtlanticForest of SE Brazil is another relevant center of diversification of wildchilies mostly with greenish yellow fruits and x = 13. The cultivated speciesbelong to three different lineages among the most derived clades of the genus;no closer wild relatives can be suggested for C. pubescens. Even though at least35 Capsicum species can be distinguished today, both cultivated andwild, a number of accessions and populations are still under study to definetheir identity. All this suggests that the species number of Capsicummay still increase. Thus, new and extensive field expeditions are obligatory toobtain a better understanding of the total Capsicum diversity.