Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Vascular Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Development and Morphogenesis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2023) | Viewed by 8116

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Department of Forest Science, Chungbuk National University, Chungdaero 1, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea
Interests: plant evolution; plant speciation; phylogenetics; polyploidization; endemic plants; genetic diversity; phylogenomics; plant chromosome
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Dear Colleagues,

Since APG systems have been widely accepted and utilized to discuss plant evolution based on molecular phylogenetic studies, insights into plant classification based on whether their phylogenetic relationships can be inferred or not are possible. Molecular phylogenetic analysis in particular has been conducted in various plant taxa in the past 20 years, producing a range of academic outcomes in the various taxonomic ranks that expanded our knowledge regarding their diversity. Although there have been remarkable achievements in the field of plant systematics (or plant phylogenetics), including methodological progress such as NGS technique, there is still a number of unknown or unclear plant taxa whose evolutionary histories and present evolutional patterns are undetermined.

In this Special Issue on “Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Vascular Plants”, original research papers and reviews on plant phylogenetic relationships and diversities are welcome. We welcome all types of data and techniques in this Special Issue, as long as the focus is on discuss vascular plants’ phylogenetic relationships.

Dr. Jung Sung Kim
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • plant evolution
  • molecular phylogenetics
  • diversity
  • speciation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 4036 KiB  
Article
Orchidaceae in Puglia (Italy): Consistency, Distribution, and Conservation
by Alessio Turco, Antonella Albano, Pietro Medagli, Saverio D’Emerico and Robert Philipp Wagensommer
Plants 2023, 12(11), 2223; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112223 - 5 Jun 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1539
Abstract
A study of the distribution of orchid species in Puglia, based on an analysis of 2084 bibliographic reports from 2000 to 2022, was carried out with the aim of revising and updating the information on the consistency of the Orchidaceae family in Puglia, [...] Read more.
A study of the distribution of orchid species in Puglia, based on an analysis of 2084 bibliographic reports from 2000 to 2022, was carried out with the aim of revising and updating the information on the consistency of the Orchidaceae family in Puglia, with a special focus on assessing threatened species occurring inside and outside protected areas. The work presents a checklist of the Orchidaceae taxa (genera, species, and subspecies) found in the region, including observations on genera and species that present taxonomic challenges. A total of 113 taxa (i.e., species and subspecies), distributed across 16 genera, are listed in alphabetical order. The most representative genera were Ophrys (51 taxa), Serapias (15 taxa), and Epipactis (11 taxa). Additionally, 49 taxa (43.4%) were found to be endemic to Italy, with 21 of these, mostly belonging to the Ophrys genus, being exclusive to Puglia. Our study notes two different trends of distribution: a predominantly coastal distribution for orchid records located in southern Puglia (the Salento peninsula) and a more widespread distribution for the other provinces. Our study also shows that the greatest number of records locate orchids in protected areas with a positive correlation between their presence and habitats cited in Directive 92/43/EEC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Vascular Plants)
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19 pages, 9663 KiB  
Article
Identification of the Plant Family Caryophyllaceae in Korea Using DNA Barcoding
by Dong-Pil Jin, Sunhee Sim, Jong-Won Park, Ji-Eun Choi, Jiwon Yoon, Chae Eun Lim and Min-Ha Kim
Plants 2023, 12(10), 2060; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12102060 - 22 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1939
Abstract
Caryophyllaceae is a large angiosperm family, with many species being utilized as ornamental or medicinal plants in Korea, in addition to several endangered species that are managed by the government. In this study, we used DNA barcoding for the accurate identification of Korean [...] Read more.
Caryophyllaceae is a large angiosperm family, with many species being utilized as ornamental or medicinal plants in Korea, in addition to several endangered species that are managed by the government. In this study, we used DNA barcoding for the accurate identification of Korean Caryophyllaceae. A total of 78 taxa (n = 215) were sequenced based on three chloroplast regions (rbcL, matK, and psbA–trnH) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacers (ITS). In the neighbor-joining tree, a higher accuracy of identification was generally observed when using ITS (>73%) rather than chloroplast regions (<62%). The highest resolution was found for rbcL + ITS (77.6%), although resolution varied according to the genus. Among the genera that included two and more species, five genera (Eremogone, Minuartia, Pseudostellaria, Sagina, and Stellaria) were successfully identified. However, the species of five other genera (Cerastium, Gypsophila, Dianthus, Silene, and Spergularia) showed relatively low resolutions (0–61.1%). In the cases of Cerastium, Dianthus, and Silene, ambiguous taxonomic relationships among unidentified species may have been a factor contributing to such low resolutions. However, in contrast to these results, Gypsophila and Spergularia have been identified well in previous studies. Our findings indicate the need of taxonomic reconsideration in Korea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Vascular Plants)
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22 pages, 4279 KiB  
Article
Structural Diversities and Phylogenetic Signals in Plastomes of the Early-Divergent Angiosperms: A Case Study in Saxifragales
by Shiyun Han, Hengwu Ding, De Bi, Sijia Zhang, Ran Yi, Jinming Gao, Jianke Yang, Yuanxin Ye, Longhua Wu and Xianzhao Kan
Plants 2022, 11(24), 3544; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11243544 - 15 Dec 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1632
Abstract
As representative of the early-divergent groups of angiosperms, Saxifragales is extremely divergent in morphology, comprising 15 families. Within this order, our previous case studies observed significant structural diversities among the plastomes of several lineages, suggesting a possible role in elucidating their deep phylogenetic [...] Read more.
As representative of the early-divergent groups of angiosperms, Saxifragales is extremely divergent in morphology, comprising 15 families. Within this order, our previous case studies observed significant structural diversities among the plastomes of several lineages, suggesting a possible role in elucidating their deep phylogenetic relationships. Here, we collected 208 available plastomes from 11 constituent families to explore the evolutionary patterns among Saxifragales. With thorough comparisons, the losses of two genes and three introns were found in several groups. Notably, 432 indel events have been observed from the introns of all 17 plastomic intron-containing genes, which could well play an important role in family barcoding. Moreover, numerous heterogeneities and strong intrafamilial phylogenetic implications were revealed in pttRNA (plastomic tRNA) structures, and the unique structural patterns were also determined for five families. Most importantly, based on the well-supported phylogenetic trees, evident phylogenetic signals were detected in combinations with the identified pttRNAs features and intron indels, demonstrating abundant lineage-specific characteristics for Saxifragales. Collectively, the results reported here could not only provide a deeper understanding into the evolutionary patterns of Saxifragales, but also provide a case study for exploring the plastome evolution at a high taxonomic level of angiosperms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Vascular Plants)
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11 pages, 2811 KiB  
Article
Asplenium pseudocapillipes (Aspleniaceae), a New Fern Species from South Korea
by Sang Hee Park, Jung Sung Kim and Hyoung Tae Kim
Plants 2022, 11(22), 3089; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11223089 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2203
Abstract
A new allotetraploid species of the genus Asplenium, A. pseudocapillipes, originated from the hybridization between A. capillipes and A. tenuicaule, has been newly discovered in two limestone areas of South Korea. A molecular phylogenetic analysis using one chloroplast region ( [...] Read more.
A new allotetraploid species of the genus Asplenium, A. pseudocapillipes, originated from the hybridization between A. capillipes and A. tenuicaule, has been newly discovered in two limestone areas of South Korea. A molecular phylogenetic analysis using one chloroplast region (rbcL) and three single- or low-copy nuclear regions (AK1, gapCp, pgiC) and a cytological analysis, including genome size measurements, were conducted to characterize this new species. From these results, the maternal origin of A. pseudocapillipes was confirmed to be A. capillipes, which has never been reported in Korea. All three nuclear data showed that this new species had genotypes of both A. capillipes and A. tenuicaule. The quantitative characteristics of the leaves showed values intermediate between the two parental species. The absence of gemma accorded with its paternal origin from A. tenuicaule, and 32 spores per sporangium accorded with its maternal origin from A. capillipes. Although A. pseudocapillipes has 32 spores per sporangium, it is considered to be a sexually reproducing, not an apomitic, fern. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Vascular Plants)
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