Plastid phylogenomic insights into the evolution of Caryophyllales

Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Yao, Gang
Jin, Jian-Jun
Li, Hong-Tao
Yang, Jun-Bo
Mandala, Venkata
Croley, Matthew
Mostow, Rebecca
Douglas, Norman
Chase, Mark
Christenhusz, Maarten
Soltis, Douglas
Soltis, Pamela
Smith, Stephen
Brockington, Samuel
Moore, Michael
Yi, Ting-Shuang
Li, De-Zhu
Date published
May 1, 2019
Abstract
The Caryophyllales includes 40 families and 12,500 species, representing a large and diverse clade of angiosperms. Collectively, members of the clade grow on all continents and in all terrestrial biomes and often occupy extreme habitats (e.g., xeric, salty). The order is characterized by many taxa with unusual adaptations including carnivory, halophytism, and multiple origins of C4 photosynthesis. However, deep phylogenetic relationships within the order have long been problematic due to putative rapid divergence. To resolve the deep-level relationships of Caryophyllales, we performed phylogenomic analyses of all 40 families of Caryophyllales. We time-calibrated the molecular phylogeny of this clade, and evaluated putative correlations among plastid structural changes and rates of molecular substitution. We recovered a well-resolved and well-supported phylogeny of the Caryophyllales that was largely congruent with previous estimates of this order. Our results provide improved support for the phylogenetic position of several key families within this clade. The crown age of Caryophyllales was estimated at ca. 114.4 million years ago (Ma), with periods of rapid divergence in the mid-Cretaceous. A strong, positive correlation between nucleotide substitution rate and plastid structural changes was detected. Our study highlights the importance of broad taxon sampling in phylogenomic inference and provides a firm basis for future investigations of molecular, morphological, and ecophysiological evolution in Caryophyllales.
Journal title
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Volume
134
ISSN
1055-7903
eISSN
1095-9513
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
DOI