Preliminary phylogenetic study in eight Nierembergia species native to Argentina: relationships with the interspecific congruence

SOTO, S.; KOKUBUM, H.; FACCIUTO, G.; SEDE, S.

Fortaleza, Brasil

Congreso; 15 Congresso Brasileiro de Floricultura e Plantas Ornamentais; 2005

The genus Nierembergia, a member of Solanaceae, comprises about 20 species. The center of diversification is in Argentina, where 15 species are distributed in 20 provinces. This genus includes creeping perennial herbaceous species as N. calycina, N. aristata, N. veitichii and N. micrantha, erect herbaceous species as N. browallioides, N. linearifolia, and also shrub species like N. scoparia and N. tandilensis. Many species of this genus are being used as ornamental plants in gardens in the northern Hemisphere. Since 1999, Nierembergia breeding programe was initiated to produce pot ornamental plants; interspecific hybrids are being used as variability source. This work intended to explore the phylogenetic relationships of 8 species and correlate this hypothesis with the possibility of successful hybrids. The phylogenetic relationship was analyzed by the parsimony method using chloroplast (trnT-L-F, trnK and PSID) sequence data. The closeness between N. linearifolia and N. micrantha, N. aristata and N. vieitichii, N. scoparia and N. ericoides respectively was detected. The explanation for this is the success in the interspecific crossing between N. aristata x N. vieitichii and N. scoparia x N. ericoides.