Abstract Detail

Systematics

Ghandforoush, Titian [1], Kron, Kathleen A [2].

Interpreting the evolutionary patterns of tropical blueberries (Vaccinieae) in the Indo–Pacific.

Species of the blueberry tribe (Vaccinieae) occur globally, with the greatest diversity found in the tropics. The Indo–Pacific region is an especially interesting place to study blueberry evolution because of its complex geologic history and widely fragmented, disparate landscape. Evolutionary relationships of the blueberry species in the region are unclear. Previous analyses of New World and Old World tropical and temperate species using matK, ndhF, ITS, and trnL genic data indicated that Agapetes, Paphia, Dimorphanthera, and Old World Vaccinium as currently circumscribed are polyphyletic. This study tested the monophyly of these genera and analyzed whether their relationships corresponded to their present biogeography. DNA sequence data from coding regions in the chloroplast and nuclear genomes were used to reconstruct a phylogenetic history of blueberry species in the Indo–Pacific. Representative taxa from Madagascar, South America, and the Northern Hemisphere were included. Sequence data was analyzed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. Concatenated and gene trees were compared to determine incongruence in the phylogeny. The optimal partitioning schemes and models of evolution for each gene were calculated and compared using PartitionFinder. Models were evaluated under two partitioning schemes: 1) partitioned by gene and 2) partitioned by codon position in each gene. Phylogenetic analyses recovered all sampled Old World genera as polyphyletic. East and Southeast continental Asian species of Agapetes are most closely related to species of Vaccinium in the same geographical region. Paphia meiniana and Paphia stenantha (restricted to northern Queensland and New Guinea respectively) are nested within two clades of Dimorphanthera. Most of the temperate and boreal species of Vaccinium fall within two clades: one clade is nested within tropical species of Agapetes and Vaccinium that occur in continental Asia and the other clade comprises species from Japan, Hawai’i, and western North America.

1 - Wake Forest University, Biology, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA
2 - Wake Forest University, Department Of Biology, 1834 Wake Forest Road, WINSTON-SALEM, NC, 27106, USA

Keywords:
Paleotropics
Vaccinieae
Biogeography
phylogenetics.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 31, Cooley Awards II
Location: 201/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
Time: 2:15 PM
Number: 31004
Abstract ID:714
Candidate for Awards:George R. Cooley Award