Phylogeny of the Paniceae (Poaceae: Panicoideae) integrating chloroplast DNA sequences and morphology

OSVALDO MORRONE; LONE AAGESEN; AMALIA SCATAGLINI; DIEGO SALARIATO; SILVIA DENHAM; AMELIA CHEMISQUY; SILVANA SEDE; LILIANA GIUSSANI; ELIZABETH KELLOG; FERNANDO ZULOAGA

San Miguel de Tucumán - Argentina

Congreso; XXVII MEETING OF THE WILLI HENNIG SOCIETY; 2008

Willi Hennig Society

The Paniceae currently includes approx. 110 genera and 2000 species worldwide distributed. The present study aims to analyze all genera of the tribe combining morphological and ndhF sequence data. Monophyly of the Paniceae was not supported. The Paniceae is divided in two mayor clades, recognized as the x=9 and X=10 clades, the latter with unclear relationships with the tribe Andropogoneae. The x=9 clade has a Pantropical distribution. Within this clade the basal dichotomy separates a small clade including Digitaria and three minor genera from the remaining of the x=9 clade. This minor clade is well supported and defined by a 24 base pair long deletion within the ndhF sequences. The major clades within the x=9 clade include the ?Bristle clade?, the ?PEP-CK clade?, and the Panicum clade characterized by having a NAD-me photosynthetic subtype. The x=10 clade is defined by a 6 base pair long insertion in the ndhF sequences. The x=10 clade is divides into a smaller clade integrated by Australian, Indian, and African taxa, and a mayor clade including American taxa only. Although the morphological characters showed to be homoplastic and lower the branch supports, they proved useful for placing several taxa for wich DNA sequence data were unobtainable.