The genus Zeugites P. Browne encompasses ten species of neotropical grasses. To infer the phylogenetic relationships of the species, parsimony analyses of morphological data and DNA sequences from a nuclear region (ITS) and two non-coding plastid regions (the trnL intron and the trnL-trnF intergenic spacer) were undertaken for each data set separately and in combination. The combined analysis is presented as our preferred phylogenetic hypothesis because of its better resolution and higher support for the clades. Zeugites is monophyletic only if Calderonella sylvatica is included in it. Our analyses recover two major clades within Zeugites: Clade I, formed by Zeugites pittieri, Zeugites latifolia, Zeugites sylvatica (Calderonella sylvatica), Zeugites sagittata, and Zeugites capillaris; and Clade II, including Zeugites hackelii, Zeugites smilacifolia, Zeugites munroana, Zeugites pringlei, Zeugites mexicana, and Zeugites americana. The monospecific genus Pohlidium is strongly supported as sister of Zeugites (including Calderonella) but it is maintained as a different genus due to noticeable differences in spikelet and inflorescence morphology.
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1 October 2007
Phylogenetic Relationships of Zeugites (Poaceae: Centothecoideae) Inferred from Plastid and Nuclear DNA Sequences and Morphology
Ana María Soriano Martínez,
Gerardo A. Salazar,
Patricia Dávila Aranda
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combined analysis
grasses
ITS
morphology
parsimony
trnL-trnF