The Phylogeny of Calligonum and Pteropyrum (Polygonaceae) Based on Nuclear Ribosomal DNA ITS and Chloroplast trnL-F Sequences

Abstract

This study represents phylogenetic analyses of two woody polygonaceous genera Calligonum and Pteropyrum using both chloroplast fragment (trnL-F) and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrDNA ITS) sequence data. All inferred phylogenies using parsimony and Bayesian methods showed that Calligonum and Pteropyrum are both monophyletic and closely related taxa. They have no affinity with Atraphaxis, instead allied with a clade in which the genus is nested. Infrageneric relationships in Calligonum, due to the paucity of informative nucleotide sites in both DNA regions are not resolved.