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Divergence time analyses in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) have all relied on the same Gentianales crown group age estimate, reported by an earlier analysis of the asterids, for defining the upper age bound of the root node in their analyses. However, not only did the asterid analysis suffer from several analytical shortcomings, but the estimate itself has been used in highly inconsistent ways in these Rubiaceae analyses. Based on the original data, we here reanalyze the divergence times of the asterids using relaxed-clock models and 14 fossil-based minimum age constraints. We also expand the data set to include an additional 67 taxa from Rubiaceae sampled across all three subfamilies recognized in the family. Three analyses are conducted: a separate analysis of the asterids, which completely mirrors the original asterid analysis in terms of taxon sample and data; a separate analysis of the Gentianales, where the result from the first analysis is used for defining a secondary root calibration point; and a combined analysis where all taxa are analyzed simultaneously. Results are presented in the form of a time-calibrated phylogeny, and age estimates for asterid groups, Gentianales, and major groups of Rubiaceae are compared and discussed in relation to previously published estimates. Our updated age estimates for major groups of Rubiaceae provide a significant step forward towards the long term goal of establishing a robust temporal framework for the divergence of this biologically diverse and fascinating group of plants.

Despite extensive efforts, there are unresolved questions on evolutionary relationships in the angiosperm family Rubiaceae. Here, information from six loci and 149 Rubiaceae taxa provide new insights. Acranthera and Coptosapelta are strongly supported as sisters. Pollen grains of Acranthera possess several features common in Rubiaceae, but amongst potential similarities with the unusual grains of Coptosapelta are the nature of the apertures and the structure of the sexine. Luculia, Acranthera and Coptosapelta are excluded from the three subfamilies Ixoroideae, Cinchonoideae and Rubioideae. Sipaneeae and Condamineeae form a clade, sister to remaining Ixoroideae. Rondeletieae and Guettardeae are sisters to remaining Cinchonoideae. Colletoecema is sister to remaining Rubioideae, followed by the Urophylleae-Ophiorrhizeae clade. Nuclear ITS provided structured information at all phylogenetic levels, but the main gain from adding nrITS was the increased resolution. Average support values also increased but were generally high also without nrITS and the increase was not statistically significant.

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Species diversity is unequally distributed across the globe, with the greatest concentration occurring in the tropics. Even within the tropics, there are significant differences in the numbers of taxa found in each continental region. Manilkara is a pantropical genus of trees in the Sapotaceae comprising c. 78 species. Its distribution allows for biogeographic investigation and testing of whether rates of diversification differ amongst tropical regions. The age and geographical origin of Manilkara are inferred to determine whether Gondwanan break-up, boreotropical migration or long distance dispersal have shaped its current disjunct distribution. Diversification rates through time are also analyzed to determine whether the timing and tempo of speciation on each continent coincides with geoclimatic events. Bayesian analyses of nuclear (ITS) and plastid (rpl32-trnL, rps16-trnK, and trnS-trnFM) sequences were used to reconstruct a species level phylogeny of Manilkara and related genera in the tribe Mimusopeae. Analyses of the nuclear data using a fossil-calibrated relaxed molecular clock indicate that Manilkara evolved 32–29 million years ago (Mya) in Africa. Lineages within the genus dispersed to the Neotropics 26–18 Mya and to Asia 28–15 Mya. Higher speciation rates are found in the Neotropical Manilkara clade than in either African or Asian clades. Dating of regional diversification correlates with known palaeoclimatic events. In South America, the divergence between Atlantic coastal forest and Amazonian clades coincides with the formation of drier Cerrado and Caatinga habitats between them. In Africa diversification coincides with Tertiary cycles of aridification and uplift of the east African plateaux. In Southeast Asia dispersal may have been limited by the relatively recent emergence of land in New Guinea and islands further east c. 10 Mya.

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To determine whether the fragmented pantropical distribution of present day Sideroxyleae primarily is the result of long-distance dispersals or represents the remnants of a once continuous distribution in the northern hemisphere, the boreotropical flora, we used phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast and nuclear ribosomal DNA data, Bayesian molecular dating, and Bayesian estimation of ancestral areas. Incongruence between the two data sets was examined with a nuclear low copy gene phylogeny to discover any occurrences of reticulate evolution. The Pacific clade Nesoluma was shown to have two distinct copies of the nuclear low copy gene AAT, one from an African and one from an American ancestral lineage, indicating that it is of allopolyploid origin. We conclude that Sideroxyleae, including the ancestral lineages of Nesoluma, were part of the boreotropical flora and entered the New World via the north Atlantic land bridge. We also suggest that the distribution of extant species resulted from the cooling climate at the end of the Eocene. Sideroxylon oxyacanthum is shown not to belong in the group, but in Chrysophylloideae. A classification reflecting phylogenetic relationships, as well as new combinations for the species in Nesoluma under Sideroxylon, is presented.

A nuclear low-copy gene phylogeny provides strong evidence for the hybrid origin of seven polyploid species in Geinae (Rosaceae). In a gene tree, alleles at homologous loci in an allopolyploid species are expected to be sisters to orthologues in the ancestral taxa rather than to each other. Alleles at a duplicated locus in an autopolyploid, however, are expected to be more closely related to each other than they are to any orthologous copies in closely related species. We cloned and sequenced about 1.9 kilobases from the 5' end of the GBSSI-1 gene from two diploid, one tetraploid, and six hexaploid species. Each of the three loci in the hexaploid species forms a separate group, two of which are more closely related to copies in other species than they are to each other. This finding indicates that the hexaploid lineage evolved through two consecutive allopolyploidization events. Based on the GBSSI-1 gene tree, we hypothesized that there was an initial hybridization between a diploid species from the ancestral lineage of Coluria and Waldsteinia and an unknown diploid species to form the tetraploid Geum heterocarpum lineage. Backcrossing of G. heterocarpum with a representative of the unknown diploid lineage then resulted in a hexaploid lineage that has radiated considerably since its origin, comprising at least 40 extant species with various morphologies. A penalized likelihood analysis indicated that Geinae may be about 17 million years old, implying that the hypothesized allopolyploid speciation events are relatively ancient. Six of the 22 cloned Geinae GBSSI-1 copies in this study, which all are duplicate copies in polyploid taxa, may have become pseudogenes. We compared the GBSSI-1 phylogeny with one from chloroplast data and explored implications for the evolution of some fruit characters.