Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T17:30:50.193Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF RHODODENDRON SUBGENUS TSUTSUSI (RHODOREAE, ERICOIDEAE, ERICACEAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

K. A. Kron
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7325, USA. E-mail for correspondence: [email protected]
E. A. Powell
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7325, USA. E-mail for correspondence: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Rhododendron subgenus Tsutsusi (Rhodoreae, Ericoideae, Ericaceae), commonly known as evergreen azaleas, includes approximately 117 deciduous and evergreen species from Japan, China and northeastern Asia. Subgenus Tsutsusi has been divided into two sections, Brachycalyx and Tsutsusi, based on characteristics of the leaves, young twigs and corolla. We obtained molecular data from three chloroplast (matK, ndhF and trnS-trnG) and two nuclear (nrITS and the third intron of rpb2) regions for 30 species of Rhododendron subgenus Tsutsusi and five species of Menziesia. Parsimony, Bayesian and likelihood analyses based on total evidence were used to assess the monophyly of the sections within Rhododendron subgenus Tsutsusi and relationships among the species sampled. In particular, the placement of the problematic Rhododendron tashiroi was addressed. Results support Rhododendron tashiroi as a member of the Rhododendron section Brachycalyx clade. Molecular evidence also supports a clade within Rhododendron section Tsutsusi containing R. indicum, R. tsusiophyllum, R. tschonoskii and R. serpyllifolium, species which were not previously considered closely related.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Chamberlain, D. F. & Rae, S. J. (1990). A revision of Rhododendron. IV. Subgenus Tsutsusi. Edinburgh J. Bot. 47: 89200.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, D. F., Hyam, R., Argent, G., Fairweather, G. & Walter, K. S. (1996). The Genus Rhododendron: Its classification and synonymy. Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.Google Scholar
De Riek, J., Dendauw, J., Mertens, M., De Loose, J., Heursel, J. & Van Bockstaele, E. (1999). Validation of criteria for the selection of AFLP markers to assess the genetic variation of a breeders’ collection of evergreen azaleas. Theor. Appl. Genet. 99: 11551165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doyle, J. & Doyle, J. (1987). A rapid DNA isolation procedure for small quantities of fresh leaf tissue. Phytochem. Bull. 19: 1115.Google Scholar
Felsenstein, J. (1985). Confidence limits on phylogenies: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39: 783789.Google Scholar
Goetsch, L., Eckert, A. J. & Hall, B. D. (2005). The molecular systematics of Rhododendron (Ericaceae): A phylogeny based upon RPB2 gene sequences. Syst. Bot. 30: 616626.Google Scholar
He, M.-Y. & Chamberlain, D. F. (2005). Rhododendron subg. Tsutsusi. In: Wu, Z.-G. & Raven, P. H. (eds) Flora of China, Volume 14, pp. 432454. Beijing and St Louis: Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press.Google Scholar
Jin, X.-F., Ding, B.-Y., Jin, S.-H., Zhang, Y.-J. & Fu, C.-X. (2007). Revision of some problematic taxa of Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi (Ericaceae) from China. Ann. Bot. Fenn. 44: 1824.Google Scholar
Judd, W. S. & Kron, K. A. (1995). A revision of Rhododendron. VI. Subgenus Pentanthera (sections Sciadorhodion, Rhodora and Viscidula). Edinburgh J. Bot. 52: 154.Google Scholar
Kron, K. A. (1997). Phylogenetic relationships of Rhododendroideae (Ericaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 84: 973980.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kron, K. A. (2003). Phylogenetic relationships and major clades of Rhododendron (Rhodoreae, Ericoideae, Ericaceae). In: Argent, G. & McFarlane, M. (eds) Rhododendrons in Horticulture and Science, pp. 7985. Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Kron, K. A., Judd, W. S., Stevens, P. F., Crayn, D. M., Anderberg, A. A., Gadek, P. A. et al. (2002). Phylogenetic classification of Ericaceae: molecular and morphological evidence. Bot. Rev. 68: 335423.Google Scholar
Kurashige, Y., Mine, M., Kobayashi, N., Handa, T., Takayanagi, K. & Yukawa, T. (1998). Investigation of sectional relationships in the genus Rhododendron (Ericaceae) based on matK sequences. J. Jap. Bot. 73: 143154.Google Scholar
Maddison, W. P. & Maddison, D. R. (2000). MacClade 4.0. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.Google Scholar
Oxelman, B. & Bremer, B. (2000). Discovery of paralogous nuclear gene sequences coding for the second largest subunit of RNA Polymerase II (RPB2) and their phylogenetic utility in Gentianales of the Asterids. Molec. Biol. Evol. 17: 11311145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sawadogo, M. & Sentenac, A. (1990). RNA polymerase B (II) and general transcription factors. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 59: 711754.Google Scholar
Scariot, V., De Keyser, E., Handa, T. & De Riek, J. (2007). Comparative study of the discriminating capacity and effectiveness of AFLP, STMS, and EST markers in assessing genetic relationships among evergreen azaleas. Plant Breeding 126: 207212.Google Scholar
Shaw, J., Lickey, E. B., Beck, J., Farmer, S., Liu, W., Miller, J. et al. (2005). The tortoise and the hare II: comparison of the relative utility of 21 non-coding chloroplast DNA sequences for phylogenetic analysis. Amer. J. Bot. 92: 142166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sleumer, H. (1949). Ein System der Gattung Rhododendron L. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 74: 511553.Google Scholar
Swofford, D. L. (2002). PAUP* 4.0b8: Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.Google Scholar
Wang, Y.-G., Li, G.-Z., Zhang, W.-J., You, J. & Chen, J.-K. (2007). Leaf epidermal features of Rhododendron (Ericaceae) from China and their systematic significance. Acta Phytotax. Sin. 45: 120.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. H. (1921). The azaleas of the Old World. In: Wilson, E. H. & Rehder, A., A Monograph of Azaleas, pp. 1107. Publications of the Arnold Arboretum No. 9. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Yamazuki, T. (1996). A revision of the genus Rhododendron in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Sakhalin. Tokyo: Tsumura Laboratory.Google Scholar