Molecular phylogeny of the large South American genus Eriosyce (Notocacteae, Cactaceae): Generic delimitation and proposed changes in infrageneric and species ranks

Abstract

Eriosyce is one of most species‐rich genera within Notocacteae (Cactaceae) harboring a variety of stem and flower morphologies, and fruits with basal abscission. The lack of a well‐sampled molecular phylogeny contributes to the current taxonomic instability of the genus, where its circumscription and infrageneric classification has been questioned. Specimens of Eriosyce (63 taxa) plus 19 outgroups were analyzed through sequencing three plastid noncoding introns (rpl32‐trnL, trnL‐trnF, trnH‐psbA), one plastid gene (ycf1), and one nuclear gene (PHYC). Individual markers and concatenated matrices were analyzed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. Phylogenetic analyses strongly support the monophyly of Eriosyce s.l. Furthermore, seven clades within Eriosyce s.l. were defined based on supported branches, although one of them was weakly supported. Our results suggest that some past taxonomic proposals have low phylogenetic support and should no longer be used, e.g., based on their scattered positions in the phylogenetic reconstruction, several infraspecific taxa appear unrelated to the typical form of the species in which they had been placed. We present a phylogeny‐informed infrageneric classification of the genus Eriosyce, and new combinations are proposed to update the nomenclature of species and sections.

Bees may drive the reproduction of four sympatric cacti in a vanishing coastal mediterranean-type ecosystem

“…This because species belonging to the Neoporteria clade are characterized by an ornithophilous syndrome, but our study revealed strict melitophilous reproduction. This result and the phylogenetic topology of the clade (Guerrero et al, 2019b), suggest the reversal of a plesiomorphic state in the Neoporteria from bird pollination back to bee pollination. Previous studies in the Cactaceae have revealed that changes in pollination systems can increase diversification rates by promoting speciation (Schlumpberger & Renner, 2012; Hernández-Hernández et al, 2014).…”

“…mutabilis (F. Ritter) Katt. The first three species belong to the Neoporteria section, while the fourth species belongs to the Horridocactus section (Guerrero et al, 2019b). Two of these taxa ( E. chilensis and E. chilensis var.…”

Quaternary diversification of a columnar cactus in the driest place on earth

“…The retrieved split into two major clades of Eulychnia into a southern and northern clade corroborates the results of Larridon et al (2018), and we favor the hypothesis of a climatic transition into a hyperarid environment as an explanation. Further studies on Chilean Cactaceae (Guerrero et al, 2019) also found such a north–south division, although unfortunately, the authors provided neither age estimates nor an explanatory hypothesis. The transition between the two clades seems to be the region around Copiapó.…”

“…These aspects could be explored in further studies based on the analyses of population‐level data. Pollination syndromes in cacti are considered not stable (Nyffeler and Eggli, 2010), and other Chilean cacti have been shown to fit into this concept (Guerrero et al, 2019); however, Eulychnia flowers are functionally conserved across taxa and throughout the range of the genus. Larridon et al (2018) provided interesting insights into the possible causes of the current allopatric distribution patterns of the different Eulychnia species, based on climatic gradients and precipitation regimes linked with geographic changes and associated bioclimates, ombrotypes, and vegetation zones (Larridon et al, 2018 and references therein).…”

Independent Evolutionary Lineages in a Globular Cactus Species Complex Reveals Hidden Diversity in a Central Chile Biodiversity Hotspot

“…as follows: % var = percent of variance; Std.Dev = standard deviation; p-value = probability. To analyze the evolutionary relationships of the E. curvispina complex, we added 33 samples to a backbone phylogenetic data matrix of the genus published elsewhere [19]. Specifically, we sequenced 18 new individuals of the section Horridocactus and 15 new individuals of the sister clade Neoporteria, all from field collected specimens.…”