A Chloroplast DNA Inversion as a Subtribal Character in the Phaseoleae (Leguminosae)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A 78 kb DNA inversion encompassing most of the large single copy region of the chloroplast genome marks a monophyletic group that comprises most genera in the subtribe Phaseolinae of the legume tribe Phaseoleae. The inversion, whose endpoints map next to and which includes the infA and psbA genes, originally was characterized from the chloroplast genomes of Phaseolus and Vigna (subtribe Phaseolinae), but was known to be absent from that of Glycine (subtribe Glycininae). We report here a survey of 50 genera of Phaseoleae and related tribes screened using small chloroplast DNA probes, whose hybridization patterns are diagnostic for the presence or absence of the inversion. The taxonomic distribution of the inversion is consistent with morphological and other data, and supports recent subtribal classifications. The disputed inclusion of Macrotyloma in the Phaseolinae is supported by the presence of the inversion in the genus. In contrast, other genera whose placement in the Phaseolinae recently has been questioned, lack the inversion (Pachyrhizus, Clitoria, Centrosema, Psophocarpus). Although still possibly related to Phaseolinae, the lack of the 78 kb chloroplast DNA inversion in these genera supports taxonomic hypotheses that place them elsewhere.

This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit: