Malpighiales phylogenetics: Gaining ground on one of the most recalcitrant clades in the angiosperm tree of life

Abstract

The eudicot order Malpighiales contains ∼16000 species and is the most poorly resolved large rosid clade. To clarify phylogenetic relationships in the order, we used maximum likelihood, Bayesian, and parsimony analyses of DNA sequence data from 13 gene regions, totaling 15604 bp, and representing all three genomic compartments (i.e., plastid: atpB, matK, ndhF, and rbcL; mitochondrial: ccmB, cob, matR, nad1B-C, nad6, and rps3; and nuclear: 18S rDNA, PHYC, and newly developed low-copy EMB2765). Our sampling of 190 taxa includes representatives from all families of Malpighiales. These data provide greatly increased support for the recent additions of Aneulophus, Bhesa, Centroplacus, Ploiarium, and Rafflesiaceae to Malpighiales; sister relations of Phyllanthaceae + Picrodendraceae, monophyly of Hypericaceae, and polyphyly of Clusiaceae. Oxalidales + Huaceae, followed by Celastrales are successive sisters to Malpighiales. Parasitic Rafflesiaceae, which produce the world's largest flowers, are confirmed as embedded within a paraphyletic Euphorbiaceae. Novel findings show a well-supported placement of Ctenolophonaceae with Erythroxylaceae + Rhizophoraceae, sister-group relationships of Bhesa + Centroplacus, and the exclusion of Medusandra from Malpighiales. New taxonomic circumscriptions include the addition of Bhesa to Centroplacaceae, Medusandra to Peridiscaceae (Saxifragales), Calophyllaceae applied to Clusiaceae subfamily Kielmeyeroideae, Peraceae applied to Euphorbiaceae subfamily Peroideae, and Huaceae included in Oxalidales.

Long-term morphological stasis maintained by a plant–pollinator mutualism

“…Results from our analyses (Fig. S1) were identical to recent studies but were better supported in key parts of the phylogeny (21,28). Here, Elatinaceae + Malpighiaceae is established as a well-supported (86 maximum-likelihood bootstrap percentage, 1.0 Bayesian posterior probability) sister clade to Centroplacaceae.…”

“…To properly root and date our phylogeny, we first clarified the closest relatives of Malpighiaceae. Previous phylogenetic studies (26)(27)(28) have identified the radially flowered, species poor clades Centroplacaceae (∼5 species) and Elatinaceae (35 species) as successive sisters to the species rich Malpighiaceae (∼1,300 species) (species diversity counts are from refs. 29 and 30).…”

“…We used the ASAP (amplification, sequencing, and annotation of plastomes) method (55) to sequence the IR from 29 species of Malpighiales. These species were carefully selected to span the basal nodes of all major clades identified from a prior 13-gene analysis of the order (28 Calycanthus was used for rooting purposes based on broader angiosperm relationships (29). Total cellular DNA extractions, PCR amplification, and sequencing protocols, including chromatogram assembly, followed Wurdack and Davis (28).…”

Sinopse do gênero Acalypha L. (Euphorbiaceae) no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

“…Euphorbiaceae é uma das maiores e mais diversas famílias das angiospermas (Govaerts et al 2000, Radcliffe-Smith 2001, sendo a maior dentro da ordem Malpighiales (Wurdack & Davis 2009). A família conta com 246 gêneros e aproximadamente 6.300 espécies (Wurdack et al 2005) distribuídas em todo o mundo, principalmente nas regiões tropicais (Govaerts et al 2000).…”

Erythroxylum (Erythroxylaceae) na Mata Atlântica da Bahia, Brasil

“…A família já foi incluída na ordem Linales por Cronquist (1981), porém recentes estudos moleculares e morfológicos apontaram o táxon como grupo irmão de Rhizophoraceae (Wurdack & Davis 2009;Xi et al 2012), assegurando sua posição dentro da ordem Malpighiales.…”