Phylogeny of the Eurasian genus Jurinea (Asteraceae: Cardueae): Support for a monophyletic genus concept and a first hypothesis on overall species relationships

Abstract

Jurinea (Asteraceae: Cardueae) is a large Eurasian genus of about 180 species with centres of diversity in Central and Southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. The genus includes many species with adaptations to xero-and chasmophytic habitats and comprises numerous endemics, especially in the Caucasus. Generic delimitations between Jurinea and closely related genera have been difficult to assess, as have the phylogenetic relationships with the genera Himalaiella, Jurinella and Lipschitziella, each of which has been suggested as congeneric with Jurinea. A molecular phylogenetic investigation at both the specific and the generic level to establish the generic delimitation of Jurinea and to evaluate the intergeneric relationships of the genus with other members of the Cardueae was hitherto lacking. In this study, we reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships between Jurinea and several closely related genera based on a representative taxon sampling using DNA sequence data of nuclear (ITS, ETS) and plastid DNA regions (trnK/matK, trnL-F). We also evaluate the infrageneric classification of Jurinea. Our results indicate that Jurinea is polyphyletic in its current circumscription, as the species J. gedrosiaca and J. cartilaginea are placed within the subtribe Centaureineae of the Cardueae. The rest of Jurinea is monophyletic and split into two major clades corresponding to the western and eastern range of the distribution area of the genus. The sister clade of Jurinea is composed of Himalaiella and Lipschitziella. Jurinella, which was segregated from Jurinea based on achene morphology, is congeneric with Jurinea. Like in other speciose Eurasian genera, the currently recognised sections do not reflect natural groups, whereas most clades found through molecular phylogenetic inference correlate with geographic patterns. A clade that exclusively comprises Caucasian endemics, including the narrow endemics of J. sect. Neobellae, was found. This clade represents an interesting study group for possible radiation events of Jurinea in the Caucasus.

Systematic importance of achene macro‐micromorphological characteristics in selected species of the genera Crupina, Jurinea, and Klasea (Asteraceae) from Turkey

“…Jurinella, which differs from Jurinea regarding its achene morphology, is congeneric with Jurinea (Szukala et al, 2019).…”

“…The genera Crupina and Serratula are noteworthy isolates in Centaureinae (Funk et al, 2009). Jurinea has 180 species mainly distributed in Central Asia, the Mediterranean basin, Iran, and Turkey (Szukala et al, 2019). Despite the richness of its species, only a few analyses on a regional scale have so far attempted to clarify the phylogenetic relationships within Jurinea (Do gan, Duran, & Hakkı, 2010;Salmerón-Sánchez et al, 2014;Szukala et al, 2019).…”

Generic boundaries in subtribe Saussureinae (Compositae: Cardueae): Insights from Hyb‐Seq data

“…that have been moved to genera Karvandarina Rech.f. and Tricholepis DC., respectively from Centaureinae (Mirtadzadini & al., 2018(Mirtadzadini & al., , 2019Szukala & al., 2019) were included to confirm their new generic identity. Based on Herrando-Moraira & al.…”

“…Another challenge within the study of Saussureinae's systematics is that most of the species are adapted to the extreme environments like those found at higher elevations (even beyond 5000 m) or dry habitats (Shi & Raab-Straube, 2011;Raab-Straube, 2017;Szukala & al., 2019). As a consequence, taxonomists could have interpreted as synapomorphies some traits resulting from convergent/parallel evolution (homoplastic characters) that have emerged multiple times across the subtribe.…”

“…Table S1 for a summary of phylogenetic studies performed and genus sampling). The most complete ones gathered a generic coverage of 71% in and 65% in Szukala & al. (2019) (see suppl.…”