Ancient Gondwana break‐up explains the distribution of the mycoheterotrophic family Corsiaceae (Liliales). (19th February 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mennes, Constantijn B.; Lam, Vivienne K. Y.; Rudall, Paula J.; Lyon, Stephanie P.; Graham, Sean W.; Smets, Erik F.; Merckx, Vincent S. F. T.; Ebach, Malte
• Is Part Of: Journal of biogeography. Volume 42:Number 6(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 1123
• Page End: 1136
• Publication Date: 2015-02-19
• Subjects: Biogeography -- Periodicals; 578.09
• DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12486
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-0270

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jbi12486-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="jbi12486-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Aim</title> <p>Many plant families have a disjunct distribution across the southern Pacific Ocean, including the mycoheterotrophic family Corsiaceae, which provides a prime example of this biogeographical pattern. A better grasp of the family's evolutionary relationships is needed to understand its historical biogeography. We therefore aimed to (1) test the uncertain monophyly of Corsiaceae, (2) define its phylogenetic position, and (3) estimate divergence times for the family, allowing us to assess whether the distribution of the family is the result of vicariance.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12486-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Location</title> <p>Southern South America and Australasia.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12486-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>We analysed various combinations of mitochondrial and nuclear data to address the monophyly, phylogenetic position and age of Corsiaceae. To test its monophyly, we used a three‐locus data set including most monocot orders, and to infer its exact phylogenetic position, we used a five‐locus extended data set. We corroborated these findings using an independent plastome dataset. We then used a two‐locus dataset with taxa from all monocot orders, and a three‐locus dataset containing only taxa of Liliales, to estimate divergence times using a fossil‐calibrated uncorrelated lognormal relaxed‐clock approach.</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12486-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Corsiaceae is a monophyletic family and the sister group of Campynemataceae. This clade is the sister group of all other Liliales. The crown age of Corsiaceae is estimated to be 53 Ma (95% confidence interval 30–76 Ma).</p> </sec> <sec id="jbi12486-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Main conclusions</title> <p>Corsiaceae is an ancient family of mycoheterotrophic plants, whose crown age overlaps with the plate‐tectonic split of Gondwana, consistent with a vicariance‐based explanation for its current distribution.</p> </sec> </abstract>