Fern phylogeny inferred from 400 leptosporangiate species and three plastid genes

Abstract

In an effort to obtain a solid and balanced approximation of global fern phylogeny to serve as a tool for addressing large‐scale evolutionary questions, we assembled and analyzed the most inclusive molecular dataset for leptosporangiate ferns to date. Three plastid genes (rbcL, atpB, atpA), totaling more than 4,000 bp, were sequenced for each of 400 leptosporangiate fern species (selected using a proportional sampling approach) and five outgroups. Maximum likelihood analysis of these data yielded an especially robust phylogeny: 80% of the nodes were supported by a maximum likelihood bootstrap percentage ≥ 70. The scope of our analysis provides unprecedented insight into overall fern relationships, not only delivering additional support for the deepest leptosporangiate divergences, but also uncovering the composition of more recently emerging clades and their relationships to one another.

A well-sampled phylogenetic analysis of the polystichoid ferns (Dryopteridaceae) suggests a complex biogeographical history involving both boreotropical migrations and recent transoceanic dispersals

“…Dryopteridaceae (i.e., Arachniodes, Bolbitis, Cyrtomium, Dryopteris, Elaphoglossum, Mickelia, Phanerophlebia, Polystichopsis, and Polystichum) are strongly supported as monophyletic (PP BI = 1; BS ML = 94, JK MP = 89, PP BEAST = 0.99, Figs. 1a and 2, S1-S4), which is consistent with previous studies (Liu et al, 2007;Schuettpelz and Pryer, 2007). Within Dryopteridaceae, the polystichoid ferns (Cyrtomium, Phanerophlebia, and Polystichum), constitute a strongly supported clade (Figs.…”

“…A more detailed analysis of these genera will be published separately. Based on previous molecular (e.g., Little and Barrington, 2003;Li et al, 2004Li et al, , 2008Driscoll and Barrington, 2007;Schuettpelz and Pryer, 2007;Lu et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2007) and morphological studies (Smith et al, 2006;Zhang et al, 2013), four species of Elaphoglossum Schott, two of Mickelia R.C. Moran, Labiak & Sundue, one of Bolbitis Schott, eight of Dryopteris Adans., four of Arachniodes Blume, and two of Polystichopsis (J.…”

“…Holttum, (all Dryopteridaceae) were included as part of the ingroup. To enable divergence time estimates on the basis of fossil calibration, we also included two species of Blechnaceae, two species of Polypodiaceae, one species each of Davalliaceae, Hemidictyaceae, Lomariopsidaceae, Nephrolepidaceae, and Woodsiaceae, and three species of Cystopteridaceae based on the phylogeny of leptosporangiate ferns (Schuettpelz and Pryer, 2007). In total, 190 accessions representing ca.…”

“…In this study, we focus on the polystichoid ferns (Driscoll and Barrington, 2007;Little and Barrington, 2003;Schuettpelz and Pryer, 2007), namely Cyrtomium C. Presl, Phanerophlebia C. Presl, and Polystichum Roth (sensu Zhang, 2012;Zhang and Barrington, 2013a)., Polystichum is one of the most diverse fern genera, with about 500 species distributed worldwide but more common in temperate and subtropical regions (Zhang and Barrington, 2013a). The highest diversity is undoubtedly found in East Asia (e.g., 208 spp.…”

Non-woody life-form contribution to vascular plant species richness in a tropical American forest

“…We follow the TROPICOS and Flora of Bolivia online databases for nomenclatural purposes (both available at http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html and http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=40, respectively). Despite much progress in the understanding of the phylogeny of extant ferns, familial composition and relationships are still unsatisfactorily solved (Smith et al 2006;Schuettpelz and Pryer 2007). We therefore refrained from assigning our collections to families and treated all ferns and fern allies as a single taxon Pteridophyta.…”