Unraveling the Evolutionary Radiation of the Families of the Zingiberales Using Morphological and Molecular Evidence

The Zingiberales are a tropical group of monocotyledons that includes bananas, gingers, and their relatives. The phylogenetic relationships among the eight families currently recognized are investigated here by using parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of four character sets: morphological fea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Systematic biology 2001-11, Vol.50 (6), p.926-944
Main Authors: Kress, W. John, Prince, Linda M., Hahn, William J., Zimmer, Elizabeth A., Olmstead, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
18S
atpB
Classification
Databases, Factual
Databases, Genetic
Datasets
DNA, Plant - genetics
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Flowers & plants
Fossils
Genes, Plant
Genetics
Models, Genetic
monocots
morphology
Parsimony
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Plant morphology
rbcL
Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase - genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics
Stamens
Taxa
Topology
tropical
We they distinction
Zingiberales
Zingiberales - anatomy & histology
Zingiberales - classification
Zingiberales - genetics
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Summary:The Zingiberales are a tropical group of monocotyledons that includes bananas, gingers, and their relatives. The phylogenetic relationships among the eight families currently recognized are investigated here by using parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of four character sets: morphological features (1), and sequence data of the (2) chloroplast rbcL gene, (3) chloroplast atpB gene, and (4) nuclear 18S rDNA gene. Outgroups for the analyses include the closely related Commelinaceae + Philydraceae + Haemodoraceae + Pontederiaceae + Hanguanaceae as well as seven more distantly related monocots and paleoherbs. Only slightly different estimates of evolutionary relationships result from the analysis of each character set. The morphological data yield a single fully resolved most-parsimonious tree. None of the molecular datasets alone completely resolves interfamilial relationships. The analyses of the combined molecular dataset provide more resolution than do those of individual genes, and the addition of the morphological data provides a well-supported estimate of phylogenetic relationships: (Musaceae ((Strelitziaceae, Lowiaceae) (Heliconiaceae ((Zingiberaceae, Costaceae) (Cannaceae, Marantaceae))). Evidence from branch lengths in the parsimony analyses and from the fossil record suggests that the Zingiberales originated in the Early Cretaceous and underwent a rapid radiation in the mid-Cretaceous, by which time most extant family lineages had diverged.
ISSN:1063-5157
1076-836X
DOI:10.1080/106351501753462885