Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

© 2015 Lyu et al. Background: The genus Flaveria has been extensively used as a model to study the evolution of C<inf>4</inf> photosynthesis as it contains C<inf>3</inf> and C<inf>4</inf> species as well as a number of species that exhibit intermediate types of photosynthesis. The current phylogenetic tree of the genus Flaveria contains 21 of the 23 known Flaveria species and has been previously constructed using a combination of morphological data and three non-coding DNA sequences (nuclear encoded ETS, ITS and chloroplast encoded trnL-F). Results: Here we developed a new strategy to update the phylogenetic tree of 16 Flaveria species based on RNA-Seq data. The updated phylogeny is largely congruent with the previously published tree but with some modifications. We propose that the data collection method provided in this study can be used as a generic method for phylogenetic tree reconstruction if the target species has no genomic information. We also showed that a "F. pringlei" genotype recently used in a number of labs may be a hybrid between F. pringlei (C<inf>3</inf>) and F. angustifolia (C<inf>3</inf>-C<inf>4</inf>). Conclusions: We propose that the new strategy of obtaining phylogenetic sequences outlined in this study can be used to construct robust trees in a larger number of taxa. The updated Flaveria phylogenetic tree also supports a hypothesis of stepwise and parallel evolution of C<inf>4</inf> photosynthesis in the Flavaria clade.

Original publication

DOI

10.1186/s12862-015-0399-9

Type

Journal article

Journal

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Publication Date

18/06/2015

Volume

15