MBE Advance Access originally published online on July 23, 2008
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2008 25(10):2099-2108; doi:10.1093/molbev/msn157
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Research Articles |
Chalcone Synthase Gene Lineage Diversification Confirms Allopolyploid Evolutionary Relationships of European Rostrate Violets

* Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Leerstoelgroep Biosystematiek, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
E-mail: vandenhof{at}nhn.leidenuniv.nl.
Accepted for publication July 11, 2008.
Phylogenetic relationships among and within the subsections of the genus Viola are still far from resolved. We present the first organismal phylogeny of predominantly western European species of subsection Rostratae based on the plastid trnS–trnG intron and intergenic spacer and the nuclear low-copy gene chalcone synthase (CHS) sequences. CHS is a key enzyme in the synthesis of flavonoids, which are important for flower pigmentation. Genes encoding for CHS are members of a multigene family. In Viola, 3 different CHS copies are present. CHS gene lineages obtained confirmed earlier hypotheses about reticulate relationships between species of Viola subsection Rostratae based on karyotype data. Comparison of the CHS gene lineage tree and the plastid species phylogeny of Viola reconstructed in this study indicates that the different CHS copies present in Viola are the products of both recent and more ancient duplications.
Key Words: chalcone synthase gene lineage diversification phylogeny Viola subsection Rostratae allopolyploidy trnS–trnG
Neelima Sinha, Associate Editor