Geographical diversification of the genus Cicer (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) inferred from molecular phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences

Abstract

Cicer L. (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) consists of 42 species of herbaceous or semi-shrubby annuals and perennials distributed throughout the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. The origin and geographical relationships of the genus are poorly understood. We studied the geographical diversification and phylogenetic relationships of Cicer using DNA sequence data sampled from two plastid regions, trnK / matK and trnS -trnG , and two nuclear regions, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and external transcribed spacer (ETS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA, from 30 species. The results from the phylogenetic analyses of combined nuclear and chloroplast sequence data revealed four well-supported geographical groups: a Middle Eastern group, a West-Central Asian group, an Aegean-Mediterranean group, and an African group. Age estimates for Cicer based on methods that do not assume a molecular clock (for example, penalized likelihood) demonstrate that the genus has a Mediterranean origin with considerable diversification in the Miocene/Pliocene epochs. Geological events, such as mountain orogenesis and environmental changes, are major factors for the dispersal of Cicer species. The early divergence of African species and their geographically distinct region in the genus suggest a broader distribution pattern of the genus in the past than at present.

Potential and limits of exploitation of crop wild relatives for pea, lentil, and chickpea improvement

“…The genus Cicer has a relatively rare Rand flora distribution (Pokorny et al, 2015), with basal species in the Canary Islands and Atlas Mountains of North Africa ( C icer canariensis ) and the highlands of Ethiopia ( Cicer cuneatum ) and the majority of the genus in southwest and central Asia. Cultivated chickpea, Cicer arietinum , is in a clade of annual species from predominantly Mediterranean climates, whereas most of the rest of the genus are perennial species from colder climates in Anatolia, the Caucus region, and Central Asia (Javadi, Wojciechowski, & Yamaguchi, 2007). Six annual species, namely, Cicer atlanticum , Cicer echinospermum , Cicer floribundum , Cicer graecum , Cicer isauricum , and Cicer reticulatum , are categorized as rare (R) and were included in the 1997 World Conservation Union (International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN) List of Threatened Plants (Walter & Gillett, 1998).…”

Multiple post‐domestication origins ofkabulichickpea through allelic variation in a diversification‐associated transcription factor

“…S1). At the species level, the resulting topology agreed with the prevailing taxonomic relationships among annual Cicer species (Javadi et al ., ; Fig. S1).…”

“…Our results strengthen and extend the inferred phylogeny of annual Cicer of previous studies (Javadi et al ., ), identifying C. reticulatum as the likely progenitor of cultivated chickpea. Moreover, the identification of genetic groups, resolved by multiple criteria that largely correlate with geographical distribution, adds an additional dimension to our understanding of chickpea germplasm.…”

Molecular phylogeny of the subgenus Ceratotropis (genus Vigna, Leguminosae) reveals three eco-geographical groups and Late Pliocene–Pleistocene diversification: evidence from four plastid DNA region sequences

“…0 Mya as the root age estimated 32 as the optimal smoothing value. Means and standard deviations of ages of specified clades were obtained from the input of 100 Bayesian trees (Lavin et al, 2005;Delgado-Salinas et al, 2006;Javadi et al, 2007). Character state evolution was examined for seedling germination type (Table 1) by mapping character states onto the strict consensus tree of the most-parsimonious phylogenetic trees of the combined data with MacClade 4 .…”