Christelová, P., Valárik, M., Hřibová, E., De Langhe, E., Doležel, J.
BMC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
11:
103,
2011
Keywords:
Abstract:
Background: The classification of the Musaceae (banana) family species and their phylogenetic inter-relationships
remain controversial, in part due to limited nucleotide information to complement the morphological and
physiological characters. In this work the evolutionary relationships within the Musaceae family were studied using
13 species and DNA sequences obtained from a set of 19 unlinked nuclear genes.
Results: The 19 gene sequences represented a sample of ~16 kb of genome sequence (~73% intronic). The
sequence data were also used to obtain estimates for the divergence times of the Musaceae genera and Musa
sections. Nucleotide variation within the sample confirmed the close relationship of Australimusa and Callimusa
sections and showed that Eumusa and Rhodochlamys sections are not reciprocally monophyletic, which supports
the previous claims for the merger between the two latter sections. Divergence time analysis supported the
previous dating of the Musaceae crown age to the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (~ 69 Mya), and the evolution of
Musa to ~50 Mya. The first estimates for the divergence times of the four Musa sections were also obtained.
Conclusions: The gene sequence-based phylogeny presented here provides a substantial insight into the course
of speciation within the Musaceae. An understanding of the main phylogenetic relationships between banana
species will help to fine-tune the taxonomy of Musaceae.
Fulltext: contact IEB authors
IEB authors: Pavla Christelová,
Jaroslav Doležel,
Eva Hřibová,
Miroslav Valárik
Čeština
English