Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the north-temperate Labrador Teas (Ericaceae: Rhododendron Subsect. Ledum) suggests a complex genetic history
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v11.i1.1138Keywords:
Biogeography, Ericaceae, Hybridization, Labrador Tea, Ledum, Molecular phylogenetics, RhododendronAbstract
The Labrador teas are a group of nearly circumboreal shrubs or sub-shrubs inhabiting damp habitats. The 4–7 currently recognized species are classified within Rhododendron subg. Rhododendron section Rhododendron subsect. Ledum. In floral characters, these species are extremely similar. In vegetative characters, species limits in the Labrador teas have been difficult to determine because many of the traditionally used morphological characters vary continually across the geographic range. This study investigated evolutionary history and preliminary consideration of some species boundaries in the Labrador teas using DNA sequence data from five molecular markers to generate a preliminary phylogeny of R. subsect. Ledum. Data were analyzed using Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian methods. The nuclear data indicate a monophyletic subsect. Ledum, but chloroplast data indicate that the North American taxa have an evolutionary history separate from the European and Asian taxa, suggesting that one or both lineages of subsect. Ledum may be of hybrid origin. Additionally, our analyses suggest that taxa combined in recent treatments (i.e. Rhododendron tomentosum) represent separate lineages and should be recognized as distinct instead of included within more broadly defined species, however our current level of sampling cannot completely resolve this issue. This study lays the groundwork for future phylogenetic studies within subsect. Ledum, illustrating the need to sample more intensively across taxa in order to capture what appears to be a complex genetic and biogeographic history.
References
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Leins, P. 1964. Entwicklungsgeschichtliche Studien an Ericales Bl?ten. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 83:57-88.
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Poczai, P. & J. Hyvönen. 2010. Nuclear ribosomal spacer regions in plant phylogenetics: Problems and prospects. Molec. Biol. Reporter. 37:1897–1912.
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Ronquist, F. & J. Huelsenbeck. 2003. MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics 19:1572–1574.
Ruizhang, F. & D.F. Chamberlain. 2005. Ledum. In: Wu Z.Y., P.H. Raven, & D.Y. Hong, eds. Flora of China. (Apiaceae through Ericaceae). Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing, China, and St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. 14:214.
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Stamatakis, A. 2014. RAxML Version 8: A tool for phylogenetic analysis and post–analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics 30:1312–1313. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btu033
Stevens, P.F. 1971. A classification of the Ericaceae: Subfamilies and tribes. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 64:1–53.
Swofford, D.L. 2003. PAUP*: Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (* and other methods). Version 4.0a147, January 2016 release. Sinauer Associates, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
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Voss, D.H. 2011. A key for Ledum in Rhododendron. J. Amer. Rhododendron Soc. 65(2):99–101.
Yang, Z.& B. Rannala. 1997. Bayesian phylogenetic inference using DNA sequences: A Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Molec. Biol. Evol. 14:714–724.
Yoder, A. D., J.A. Irwin, & B.A. Payseur. 2001. Failure of the ILD to determine data combinability for slow loris phylogeny. Syst. Biol. 50:408–424.
Baldwin, B. 1992. Phylogenetic utility of the internal transcribed spacers of nuclear ribosomal DNA in plants: An example from the Compositae. Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 1:3–16.
Barker, F. & F. Lutzoni. 2002. The utility of the incongruence length difference test. Syst. Biol. 51:625–637.
Collin, G. 2015. Aromas from Quebec. IV. Chemical composition of the essential oil of Ledum groenlandicum: A review. Amer. J. Essential Oils Nat. Prod. 2(3):6–11.
Copeland, H. 1943. A study, anatomical and taxonomic of the genera of Rhododendroideae. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 30:533–625.
Cullen, J. 1980. A revision of Rhododendron 1. Subgenus Rhododendron Sections Rhododendron and Pogonanthum. Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 39:1–207.
Cunningham, C.W. 1997. Can three incongruence tests predict when data should be combined? Molec. Biol. Evol. 14:733–740.
Dampc, A. & M. Luczkiewicz. 2013. Rhododendron tomentosum (Ledum palustre). A review of traditional use based on current research. Fitoterapia 85:130–143.
Dampc, A. & M. Luczkiewicz. 2015. Labrador tea—the aromatic beverage and spice: A review of origin, processing and safety. J. Sci. Food Agric. 95:1577–1583. doi:10.1002/jsfa.6889
Darriba, D., G.L. Taboada, R. Doallo, & D. Posada. 2012. jModelTest 2: More models, new heuristics and parallel computing. Nature Meth. 9:772.
Doyle, J. & J. Doyle. 1987. A rapid DNA isolation procedure for small quantities of fresh leaf tissue. Phytochem. Bull. Bot. Soc. Amer. 19:11–15.
Drábková, L., J. Kirschner, & ?.Vl?ek. 2002. Comparison of seven DNA extraction and amplification protocols in historical herbarium specimens in Juncaceae. Pl. Molec. Biol. Reporter 20:161–175.
Evans, R.C., L.A. Alice, C.S. Campbell, E.A. Kellogg, & T.A. Dickinson. 2000. The granule–bound starch synthase (GBSSI) gene in the Rosaceae: Multiple loci and phylogenetic utility. Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 17(3):388–400.
Farris, J., S.M. Kallersjo, A.G. Kluge, & C. Bult. 1995. Constructing a significance test for incongruence. Syst. Biol. 44:570–572.
Felsenstein, J. 1985. Confidence limits on phylogenies: An approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39:783–791.
Felsenstein, J. 1988. Phylogenies from molecular sequences: Inference and reliability. Ann. Rev. Genet. 22:521–565.
Gillespie, E. & K. Kron. 2010. Molecular phylogenetic relationships and a revised classification of the subfamily Ericoideae (Ericaceae). Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 56:343–354.
Goetsch, L.A., A.J. Eckert, & B. Hall. 2005. The molecular systematics of Rhododendron (Ericaceae): A phylogeny based upon RPB2 gene sequences. Syst. Bot. 30:616–626.
Guindon, S. & O. Gascuel. 2003. A simple, fast and accurate method to estimate large phylogenies by maximum–likelihood. Syst. Biol. 52:696–704.
Harmaja, H. 1990. New names and nomenclatural combinations in Rhododendron (Ericaceae). Ann. Bot. Fenn. 27:203–204.
Harmaja, H. 1991. Taxonomic notes on Rhododendron Subsection Ledum (Ledum, Ericaceae), with a key to its species. Ann. Bot. Fenn. 28:171–173.
Harmaja, H. 1999. Rhododendron diversipilosum, comb. nov. (Ericaceae). Ann. Bot. Fenn. 35:263–264.
Harmaja, H. 2002. Rhododendron subulatum, comb. nov. (Ericaceae). Ann. Bot. Fenn. 39:183–184.
Huelsenbeck, J. & F. Ronquist. 2001. MrBayes: Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics 17:754–755.
Hultén, E. 1937. Outline of the history of arctic and boreal biota during the Quarternary period. Lehre J Cramer, New York, U.S.A.
Judd, W.S. & K.A. Kron. 2009. Rhododendron. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York, U.S.A., and Oxford, U.K. 8:371–372, 374–375, 451, 453, 455.
Kearse, M. (& 13 others). 2012. Geneious Basic: An integrated and extendable desktop software platform for the organization and analysis of sequence data. Bioinformatics 28(12):1647–1649.
Kihlman, B. 2004. Hybrids between Ledums and lepidote Rhododendrons. J. Amer. Rhododendron Soc. 58:74–81.
Kron, K. 1997. Phylogenetic relationships of Rhododendroideae (Ericaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 84:973–980.
Kron, K. & M. Chase. 1993. Systematics of Ericaceae, Empetraceae, Epacridaceae, and related taxa based upon rbcL sequence data. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 80:735–741.
Kron, K. & W. Judd. 1990. Phylogenetic relationships within the Rhodoreae (Ericaceae) with specific comments on the placement of Ledum. Syst. Bot. 15:57–68.
Kron, K.A., W.S. Judd, P.F.Stevens, D.M. Crayn, A.A. Anderberg, P.A. Gadek, C.J. Quinn, & J.L. Luteyn. 2002. Phylogenetic classification of Ericaceae: Molecular and morphological evidence. Bot. Rev. 68(3):335–423.
Kurashige, Y., J. Etoh, T. Handa, K. Takayanagi, & T. Yukawa. 2001. Sectional relationships in the genus Rhododendron (Ericaceae): Evidence from matk and trnK intron sequences. Pl. Syst. Evol. 228:1–14.
Kurashige, Y., M. Mine, N. Kobayashi, T. Handa, K. Takanayagi, & T. Yukuwa. 1998. Investigation of sectional relationships in the genus Rhododendron (Ericaceae) based on matK sequences. J. Jap. Bot. 73:143–154.
Lantai, K. & B. Kihlman. 1995. The chromosome number of Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens and of some related taxa. Hereditas (Lund.) 122:181–184.
Leins, P. 1964. Entwicklungsgeschichtliche Studien an Ericales Bl?ten. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 83:57-88.
Matthews J.V. 1979. Tertiary and Quaternary environments: Historical background for an analysis of the Canadian insect fauna. In: Canada and its insect fauna (ed. Danks HV), Entomological Society of Canada, Ottawa. Pp. 31–86.
Poczai, P. & J. Hyvönen. 2010. Nuclear ribosomal spacer regions in plant phylogenetics: Problems and prospects. Molec. Biol. Reporter. 37:1897–1912.
Popescu, R. & B. Kopp. 2013. The genus Rhododendron: An ethnopharmacological and toxicological review. J. Ethnopharmacol. 147:42–62.
Ronquist, F. & J. Huelsenbeck. 2003. MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics 19:1572–1574.
Ruizhang, F. & D.F. Chamberlain. 2005. Ledum. In: Wu Z.Y., P.H. Raven, & D.Y. Hong, eds. Flora of China. (Apiaceae through Ericaceae). Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing, China, and St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. 14:214.
Shaw, J., E. Lickey, E. Schilling, & R. Small. 2007. Comparison of whole chloroplast genome sequences to choose noncoding regions for phylogenetic studies in angiosperms: The tortoise and the hare III. Amer. J. Bot. 94:275–288.
Stamatakis, A. 2014. RAxML Version 8: A tool for phylogenetic analysis and post–analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics 30:1312–1313. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btu033
Stevens, P.F. 1971. A classification of the Ericaceae: Subfamilies and tribes. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 64:1–53.
Swofford, D.L. 2003. PAUP*: Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (* and other methods). Version 4.0a147, January 2016 release. Sinauer Associates, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Tutin, T.G., V.H. Heywood, N.A. Burges, D.M. Moore, D.H. Valentine, S.M. Walters, & D.A. Webb. 1972. Flora Europaea, Volume 3 (Diapensiaceae to Myoporaceae). Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Voss, D.H. 2011. A key for Ledum in Rhododendron. J. Amer. Rhododendron Soc. 65(2):99–101.
Yang, Z.& B. Rannala. 1997. Bayesian phylogenetic inference using DNA sequences: A Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Molec. Biol. Evol. 14:714–724.
Yoder, A. D., J.A. Irwin, & B.A. Payseur. 2001. Failure of the ILD to determine data combinability for slow loris phylogeny. Syst. Biol. 50:408–424.
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Published
2017-07-24
How to Cite
Hart, A. ., Kron, K., & Gillespie, E. (2017). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the north-temperate Labrador Teas (Ericaceae: Rhododendron Subsect. Ledum) suggests a complex genetic history. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 11(1), 53–65. https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v11.i1.1138
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