Phylogeny, biogeography and divergence times in Passiflora (Passifloraceae)

Abstract

As part of a long-term investigation on the evolution of Passiflora L., we investigated the divergence ages of the genus and diversification of its subgenera, relating them with biogeographical and/or historical events, and other characteristics of this taxon. The main aim of the present work was to evaluate the biogeographic distribution of this genus to better understand its evolutionary history. This is the first time that representatives from South American and Old World Passifloraceae genera have been studied as a group comprising a total of 106 widely distributed species, with representative samples of the four suggested subgenera. Seven DNA regions were studied, comprising 7,431 nucleotides from plastidial, mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Divergence time estimates were obtained by using a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method and a random local clock model for each partition. Three major subgenera have been shown to be monophyletic and here we are proposing to include another subgenus in the Passiflora infrageneric classification. In general, divergence among the four subgenera in Passiflora is very ancient, ranging from ∼32 to ∼38 Mya, and Passifloraceae seems to follow a biogeographic scenario proposed for several plant groups, originating in Africa, crossing to Europe/Asia and arriving in the New World by way of land bridges. Our results indicated that Passiflora ancestors arrived in Central America and diversified quickly from there, with many long distance dispersion events.

Comparative pollen morphological analysis in the subgenera Passiflora and Decaloba

“…The pattern of clustering based on the pollinic characteristics allowed to classify the species into two subgenera, Passiflora and Decaloba, congruent with the classification of Feuillet and MacDougal (2003) and supported by phylogenetic studies using molecular markers and sequencing technique (Yockteng and Nadot 2004, Hansen et al 2006, Mäder et al 2010, Porter-Utley 2014, Milwardde-Azevedo et al 2014b, Muschner et al 2012, Krosnick et al 2013, Ocampo and D'Eeckenbrugge 2017. These authors revealed that the Passiflora and Decaloba subgenera showed monophyletic clades.…”

Genetic variability assessment in the genus Passiflora by SSR marker

“…The dendrogram favored the formation of three major groups (Figure 2 Decaloba had diversified prior to the subgenus Passiflora (Muschner et al, 2012). It explains the high molecular dissimilarity between Passiflora and Decaloba, thus accumulating molecular and morphological differences, including in modes of reproduction, flower size and number of chromosomes.…”

“…It explains the high molecular dissimilarity between Passiflora and Decaloba, thus accumulating molecular and morphological differences, including in modes of reproduction, flower size and number of chromosomes. The closeness among the species of the subgenus Passiflora is explained by its recent diversification (Muschner et al, 2012). Group II showed closeness between the two species, which indicates the potential use of interspecific crosses.…”

Genetic Breeding and Diversity of the Genus Passiflora: Progress and Perspectives in Molecular and Genetic Studies

“…Furthermore, the contributions to molecular phylogeny may be observed in in-depth studies [16,17,18]. …”