Abstract Detail

Systematics Section / ASPT

Wen, Jun [1], Soejima, Akiko [2].

A phylogenetic analysis of Vitaceae with three chloroplast markers and the diversification of the family in Asia.

Vitaceae (the grape family) are a pantropical family of about 14 genera and 750 species with a few members in the temperate regions. Asia is one of the major centers of diversity for Vitaceae, with 12 of the 14 genera in tropical and temperate Asia including three endemic genera: Acareosperma, Nothocissus, and Pterisanthes. Several large genera such as Ampelocissus, Tetrastigma and Vitis have their highest diversity in Asia. A few genera have conspicuously disjunctive distribution between Asia and the New World. Our chloroplast sequence data (trnL-trnF, atpB-rbcL and rps16 intron) suggest that the Asian species of Cayratia and Tetrastigma and the largely African Cyphostemma form a clade, with Cayratia being paraphyletic. Nothocissus and Pterisanthes, two small Asian endemic genera, are nested within Ampelocissus. Pterisanthes is at least biphyletic. The position of the newly established genus Yua is not well resolved. The North American species of Parthenocissus are highly distinct from the Asian relatives. These results suggest that: (1) multiple migration between Asia and the New World; (2) ancient origins of the intercontinental disjunctions between the two continents in Vitaceae; and (3) the evolutionary radiation at both species and generic levels in eastern and southeastern Asia.