Phylogenetic position and delimitation of the moss family Plagiotheciaceae in the order Hypnales

Abstract

The phylogenetic position and generic composition of the moss family Plagiotheciaceae were explored using DNA sequence data from three genomes: plastid trnL‐F and rps4, mitochondrial nad5 intron and nuclear ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2. Our phylogenetic analyses included 35 terminals from Plagiotheciaceae and 71 outgroup taxa from a representative set of hypnalean moss families. The family Plagiotheciaceae is resolved in the early‐diverging Hypnales grade, together with Fontinalaceae, Habrodontaceae and several genera which are mainly distributed in the area of the former Gondwanan supercontinent. However, monophyly of the family can only be attained if the three Southern Hemisphere genera, Acrocladium, Catagonium and Rhizofabronia, are excluded. Ancestral state reconstruction for eight morphological characters reveals that many characters used to delimit the family, such as a lack of pseudoparaphyllia and rhizoids inserted in the leaf axils, were already present in the ancestor of Hypnales. Dispersal–vicariance analysis suggests that Plagiotheciaceae and Fontinalaceae have their ancestral distributions in the area of the former Laurasian supercontinent. As the analyses also reveal a Gondwanan distribution for the ancestor of Hypnales in general, Plagiotheciaceae and Fontinalaceae represent the first diverging Laurasian lineages in the order. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London

On the branch primordia structure in the Basal Hypnanae (Bryophyta)

“…The quite apparent Bryum-type of branch primordia is represented in Hookeria (Figs. 17, 25-28, 31, 33) despite it has been treated as having "foliose pseudoparaphyllia" (Hedenäs, 1996;Ignatov, 1999), "pseudoparaphyllia filamentose or absent" (Goffinet et al, 2009), "pseudoparaphyllia present" (Huttunen et al, 2013). The hummock of small cells first appears and remains totally leafless for some time (Fig.…”

“…Pedersen & Newton, 2007;Huttunen et al, 2013;Hedenäs, 1996). Among other charaters, the protective leafy structures of branch primordia were widely discussed.…”

“…In spite of this, the topologies in basal parts of molecular phylogenetic trees found in various analyses are relatively similar. Two points that are important for the following discussion include: (1) Ptychomniales are found in a position sister to the Hypnales plus Hookeriales (Buck et al, 2004;Cox et al, 2010;Huttunen et al, 2012), and (2) Fontinalaceae, Habrodontaceae, Plagiotheciaceae, Acrocladiaceae, Catagoniaceae, Fabroniaceae, Lepyrodontaceae, Rutenbergiaceae, Stereophyllaceae, and Trachylomataceae form a basal grade of the Hypnales (Tsubota et al, 2004;Buck et al 2004;Gardiner et al, 2005;Cox et al, 2010;Huttunen et al, 2012Huttunen et al, , 2013). …”

“…6,9,10,16,46,48. MATERIAL AND METHODS Taxa sampling This study included representatives of seven genera of the Ptychomniales and 26 genera of Hookeriales, from all of the families recognized in the Hookeriales by Goffinet et al (2009). Only few specimens were studied and illustrated from the Hypnales, mostly from the Plagiotheciaceae (as defined by Huttunen et al, 2013), for comparison with the Hookeriales and Ptychomniales. Data on the structure of branch primordia from previous publications (Ignatov, 1999;Budyakova et al, 2003;Spirina & Ignatov, 2011;Ignatov & Spirina, 2012) were considered for discussion.…”

Cyrto-hypnum versicolor (Thuidiaceae, Bryophyta) in Russia

“…A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the DNA sequence data was recently developed as a powerful method for resolving problems of difficult species delimitation, confirming or rejecting separate status of a putatively new species, correcting generic and familial placement and stopping sometimes endless debates on these mat-ters (e.g., Huttunen et al, 2013;Ignatova et al, 2010Ignatova et al, , 2015Ivanova et al, 2015). Thus, such exploration was conducted for this specimen from the Kuril Islands in addition to its morphological study.…”