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Phylogenetic reappraisal of Allium subgenus Cyathophora (Amaryllidaceae) and related taxa, with a proposal of two new sections

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Abstract

The phylogeny of subgenus Cyathophora and representatives of its closely related taxa within Allium were reconstructed based on nrDNA ITS and two plastid fragments (trnL-F and rpl32-trnL). The constructed phylogenies indicated that subgenus Cyathophora was not monophyletic and to be split in three parts positioned in different clusters. Allium kingdonii was unequivocally placed within subgenus Amerallium and formed an immediate sister relationship with New World Amerallium clade, suggesting an unexpected intercontinental disjunct distribution. For another, Allium trifurcatum was firmly nested within subgenus Butomissa next to A. tuberosum and A. ramosum, but it is distinctly different morphologically from the latter by thinly leathery bulb tunics, uniovulate locule and obviously 3-cleft stigma. Based on the geographic features, morphological and molecular evidences, two new sections, Kingdonia X.J.He et D.Q.Huang for A. kingdonii and Trifurcatum X.J.He et D.Q.Huang for A. trifurcatum, were proposed. The remaining three species of subgenus Cyathophora formed a well-defined clade, and the phylogenetic relationships among them recovered were consistent with previous findings. In addition, A. weschniakowii and A. subtilissimum were proven to be a member of subgenera Rhizirideum sensu stricto (s. str.) and Cepa, respectively, rather than subgenera Cepa and Polyprason previously proposed. Section Rhizomatosa represented by A. caespitosum should be subsumed within section Caespitosoprason of subgenus Rhizirideum s. str.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Prof. Jie-Mei Xu for Allium species identification and to Xiang-Guang MA and Yun-Dong GAO for assistance in gathering plant material and valuable discussions on our manuscript. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31270241, 31070166, 31100161), and the specimen platform of China, teaching specimen’s sub-platform (http://mnh.scu.edu.cn/).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    De-Qing Huang, Jing-Tian Yang, Chun-Jing Zhou, Song-Dong Zhou & Xing-Jin He

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  1. De-Qing Huang
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  2. Jing-Tian Yang
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Correspondence to Xing-Jin He.

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Huang, DQ., Yang, JT., Zhou, CJ. et al. Phylogenetic reappraisal of Allium subgenus Cyathophora (Amaryllidaceae) and related taxa, with a proposal of two new sections. J Plant Res 127, 275–286 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0617-8

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