Abstract
Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that Saxifraga, as currently understood, must be divided into two genera: Saxifraga L. sensu stricto and Micranthes Haw. To better understand the evolutionary history of these two genera, we performed phylogenetic analyses inferred from the nuclear ribosomal sequences from the internal transcribed spacer and the sequences of the plastid DNA (rbcL). Our molecular data confirmed the monophyly of the genus Micranthes and the consistency of the existing systematic treatments based on morphological criteria. Moreover, Micranthes species native from the Iberian Peninsula (i.e. M. clusii, M. lepismigena and M. stellaris) should be included into Micranthes sect. Arabisa.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brouillet L, Elvander PE (2007a) Saxifraga L. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds) 1993+ Flora of North America North of Mexico. 16+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol 8, pp 132–146
Brouillet L, Elvander PE (2007b) Micranthes Haworth. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds) 1993+ Flora of North America North of Mexico. 16+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol 8, pp 49–69
Brouillet L, Gornall R (2007) New combinations in Micranthes (a segregate of Saxifraga, Saxifragaceae) in North America. J Bot Res Inst Texas 1(2):1019–1022
Conti E, Soltis DE, Hardig TM, Schneider J (1999) Phylogenetic relationships of the silver saxifrages (Saxifraga, sect. Ligulatae Haworth): implications for the evolution of substrate specificity, life histories, and biogeography. Mol Phylogenet Evol 13:536–555
Doyle JJ, Doyle JL (1987) A rapid DNA isolation procedure for small quantities of fresh leaf tissue. Phytochem Bull 19:11–15
Engler A, Irmscher E (1919) Saxifragaceae-Saxifraga. Pflanzenreich IV, 117. Leipzig
Felsenstein J (2005) PHYLIP (Phylogeny Inference Package) version 3.6. Distributed by the author. Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Fernández Prieto JA, Vázquez VM, Pérez Vallines R, Cires E (2010) Sistemática y diversidad de la Familia Saxifragaceae Juss. en la Reserva de Biosfera de Somiedo (Asturias, España). Bol Cien Nat RIDEA 51:277–298
Gornall RJ, Ohba H, Jintang P (2000) New taxa, names, and combinations in the Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae) for the Flora of China. Novon 10:375–377
Gray SF (1821) A natural arrangement of British plants II. London
Johnson LA, Soltis DE (1994) matK sequences and phylogenetic reconstruction in Saxifragaceae sensu stricto. Syst Bot 19:143–156
Johnson LA, Soltis DE (1995) Phylogenetic inference in Saxifragaceae sensu stricto and Gilia (Polemoniaceae) using matK sequences. Ann Missouri Bot Gard 82:149–175
Johnson LA, Soltis DE (1998) Assessing congruence: empirical examples from molecular data. In: Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Doyle JJ (eds) Molecular systematics of plants II. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Amsterdam
Lanning MS (2009) A systematic study of the flowering plant genus Micranthes (Saxifragaceae) in the Southern Appalachians. Thesis of Master of Science in Biology. Graduate School of Western Carolina University, USA
Larkin MA, Blackshields G, Brown NP, Chenna R, Mcgettigan PA, Mcwilliam H, Valentin F, Wallace IM, Wilm A, Lopez R, Thompson JD, Gibson TJ, Higgins DG (2007) ClustalW and ClustalX version 2. Bioinformatics 23(21):2947–2948
McGregor M (2008) Saxifrages: a definitive guide to the 2000 species, hybrids and cultivars. Timber Press, Portland and London
McIntosh L, Poulsen C, Bogorad L (1980) Chloroplast gene sequence for the large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase of maize. Nature 288:556–560
Mort ME, Soltis DE (1999) Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of ovary position in Saxifraga section Micranthes. Syst Bot 24:139–147
Olmstead RG, Michaels HJ, Scott KM, Palmer JD (1992) Monophyly of the Asteridae and identification of their major lineages inferred from DNA sequences of rbcL. Ann Missouri Bot Gard 79:249–265
Porebski S, Bailey LG, Baum BR (1997) Modification of a CTAB DNA extraction protocol for plants containing high polysaccharide and polyphenol components. Plant Mol Biol 15:8–15
Soltis DE (2007) Saxifragaceae. In: Kubitzki K (ed) 1990+ The families and genera of vascular plants. 9+ vols. Berlin. Vol 9, pp 418–435
Soltis DE, Morgan DR, Grable A, Soltis PS, Kuzoff R (1993) Molecular systematics of Saxifragaceae sensu stricto. Am J Bot 80:1056–1081
Soltis DE, Kuzoff RK, Conti E, Gornall R, Ferguson K (1996) matK and rbcL gene sequence data indicate that Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae) is polyphyletic. Am J Bot 83(3):371–382
Soltis DE, Kuzoff RK, Mort ME, Zanis M, Fishbein M, Hufford L, Koontz J, Arroyo MK (2001) Elucidating deep-level phylogenetic relationships in Saxifragaceae using sequences for six chloroplastic and nuclear DNA regions. Ann Missouri Bot Gard 88:669–693
Sun Y, Skinner DZ, Liang GH, Hulbert SH (1994) Phylogenetic analysis of Sorghum and related taxa using internal transcribed spacers of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Theor Appl Genet 89:26–32
Vargas P (1994) Estudios biosistemáticos en el género Saxifraga: serie Ceratophyllae (s.l.) Tesis Doctoral. Universidad Complutense, Madrid
Vargas P (1997) Saxifraga L. In: Castroviejo S, Aedo C, Laínz M, Morales R, Muñoz Garmendia F, Nieto Feliner G, Paiva J (eds) Flora Iberica, vol 5. CSIC, Madrid, pp 162–242
Webb DA (1993) Saxifraga L. In: Tutin TG, Burges NA, Charter AO, Edmondson JR, Heywood VH, Moores DM, Valentine DH, Walters SM, Webb DA (eds) Flora Europaea 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 437–458
Wells EF, Elvander PE (2007) Saxifragaceae Jussieu. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds) 1993+ Flora of North America North of Mexico. 16+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol 8, pp 43–45
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Candela Cuesta for her helpful and pertinent comments in early stages of this manuscript. We are grateful to Álvaro Bueno, María Ceballos and Víctor M. Vázquez for helping with the sampling.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Details of plant material used in this paper. Species name and authors followed by GenBank accession numbers for the ITS and rbcL markers respectively. GenBank numbers shown in italics correspond to new sequences generated.
Astilbe rivularis Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don (FJ653630-FJ65363047), A. taquetii (H.Lév.) Koidz. (L11173), Astilboides tabularis (Hemsl.) Engl. (U06207), Bergenia cordifolia (Haw.) Sternb. (U06208), B. crassifolia (L.) Fritsch (AM183412), Bolandra oregana S.Watson (U51255/U06209), Boykinia aconitifolia Nutt. (U51254), B. occidentalis Torr. (AM183413), B. rotundifolia Parry ex A.Gray (L11175), Chrysosplenium japonicum (Maxim.) Makino (AB003269), C. macrostemon Maxim. ex Franch. & Sav. (AB003271), C. pilosum Maxim. (JN375558), C. ramosum Maxim. (AB003273), Darmera peltata (Torr. ex Benth.) Voss (AB292041/L11180), Elmera racemosa (S.Watson) Rydb. (AB248849/U06210), Heuchera americana L. (AF158954), H. micrantha Dougl. ex Lindl. (L01925), H. sanguinea Engelm. (EU002280), Itea virginica L. (AY231368/L11188), Jepsonia parryi (Torr.) Small. (U51262/U06211), Leptarrhena pyrolifolia (D.Don) R.Br. ex Ser. (L11191), Micranthes atrata (Engl.) Losinsk. (EU158852), M. careyana (A.Gray) Small (not uploaded to GenBank, Lanning 2009), M. caroliniana (A.Gray) Small (not uploaded to GenBank, Lanning 2009), M. clusii (Gouan) Fern. Prieto, Vazquez, Vallines & Cires (KC749985/KC749989) (FCO-32851, Mt. Erakurri, Navarra, Spain, 30T 594677E-4772607N, 1,043 m), M. integrifolia (Hook.) Small (not uploaded to GenBank, Soltis et al. 2001/L01953), M. lepismigena (Gouan) Fern. Prieto, Vazquez, Vallines & Cires (KC749986/KC749990) (FCO-32856, Ponga, Asturias, Spain, 30T 320679E-4789315N, 269 m), M. melanocentra (Franch.) Losinsk. (EU158846), M. micranthidifolia (Haw.) Small (not uploaded to GenBank, Lanning 2009), M. pallida (Wall. ex Ser.) Losinsk. (EU158863), M. pensylvanica (L.) Haw. (not uploaded to GenBank, Lanning 2009), M. petiolaris (Raf.) Brouillet & Gornall (not uploaded to GenBank, Lanning 2009), M. punctata (L.) Losinsk. (not uploaded to GenBank, Soltis et al. 2001/U06218), M. stellaris (L.) Galasso, Banfi & Soldano (KC749987/KC749991) (FCO-32853, Alto Campoo Cantabria, Spain, 30T 386491E-4766936N, 1,692 m), M. tolmiei (Torr. & A.Gray) Brouillet & Gornall (not uploaded to GenBank, Soltis et al. 2001), M. virginiensis (Michx.) Small (not uploaded to GenBank, Lanning 2009), Mukdenia rossii (Oliv.) Koidz. (U06212), Peltoboykinia tellimoides (Maxim.) H.Hara (AB248847/U06213), Rodgersia pinnata Franch. (U06214), R. podophylla A.Gray (AB248848), Saxifraga cernua L. (U06215), S. cuneifolia L. (KC749992) (FCO-33041, Petit San Bernard, close to Pont Serrand, France, 32T 337986E-506345N, 1,833 m), S. granulata L. (AF482692), S. hirsuta L. (KC749993) (FCO-33042, Caunedo, Somiedo, Asturias, Spain, 29T, 723426E-4771747N, 990 m), S. mertensiana (U06216), S. oppositifolia L. (U06217), S. rotundifolia L. (AF087598), S. spathularis Brot. (KC749988/KC749994) (FCO-33040, Embalse de las Portas, Orense, Spain, 29T 648340E-4664218N, 784 m), Saxifragodes albowiana (Kurtz ex Albov & Kurtz) D.M.Moore (AF374825-AF374826/AF374731), Saxifragopsis fragarioides Small (FJ653637-FJ653654), Sullivantia oregana S.Watson (U51258/U06219), Tanakaea radicans Franch. & Sav. (U51263/U06220), Telesonix heucheriformis (Rydb.) Rydb. (U06221), T. jamesii (Torr.) Raf. (U51260), Tellima grandiflora (Pursh) Douglas ex Lindl. (AF158952/U06222), Tolmiea menziesii (Pursh) Torr. & A.Gray (AB248857/U06223).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prieto, J.A.F., Arjona, J.M., Sanna, M. et al. Phylogeny and systematics of Micranthes (Saxifragaceae): an appraisal in European territories. J Plant Res 126, 605–611 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0566-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0566-2