Systematics of Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae)—Evidence from Molecular and Anatomical Studies

Abstract

A reconstruction of the phylogeny of Bromeliaceae based on sequence data from three noncoding chloroplast DNA markers (trnL intron, trnT-trnL, and trnT-trnF intergenic spacer [IGS]) is presented, including 26 genera and 33 species. Relationships of Bromelioideae and phylogeny within this subfamily were analyzed in more detail on the basis of two of these markers (trnL intron and trnL-trnF IGS) using a set of 37 genera/74 species of Bromeliaceae, including 28 genera/60 species of Bromelioideae. Sister group relationships of Bromelioideae were not resolved with sufficient reliability, but the most likely candidates are the genera Fosterella and Puya. The basal phylogeny of Bromelioideae also was not resolved. Greigia, Ochagavia/Fascicularia/Fernseea, Deinacanthon, Bromelia, and a ''core group'' of the remaining Bromelioideae formed a basal polytomy. Within Bromelioideae, the AFLP technique was applied to assess relationships among selected groups of genera. In the Ochagavia/Fascicularia group (5 species and subspecies/16 accessions), AFLP data fully confirmed the systematic relationships based on morphological and anatomical characters. Investigation of 30 Aechmea species (33 accessions), including all subgenera and one species each from the related genera Ursulaea, Portea, Chevaliera, and Streptocalyx produced no resolution for several of the species. Clades that received good bootstrap support generally did not correspond with the delimitation of subgenera of Aechmea. Additionally, leaf blade anatomy of these species was investigated. The results corresponded partly with those of the AFLP analysis. Generic rank for Ursulaea and Portea was not supported.

Morphological Phylogenetic Analysis of Two Early-Diverging Genera of Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae)

“…However, the strict consensus recovered a large polytomy between Bromelia, Fernseea, Ochagavia and the clade with the remaining species of Bromelioideae. The difficulty of establishing the relationships of Bromelia and Fernseea with the remaining members of Bromelioideae is also apparent from the different phylogenies based on molecular characters (e.g., Horres et al 2007;Givnish et al 2007Givnish et al , 2011Schulte & Zizka 2008;Evans et al 2015), where these genera emerge in different positions. These results illustrate the need for new studies to develop more conclusive and robust hypotheses, since the branches have low support ) and the schemes for the relationships among the early-diverging groups of Bromelioideae will likely be subject to frequent modification.…”

“…Fernseea forms a clade with Fascicularia and Ochagavia in a polytomy with Bromelia (Horres et al 2007), or occurs as a sister to the eubromelioids (Schulte & Zizka 2008). Bromelia appears either in a polytomy with Fascicularia, Deinacanthon and Ochagavia (Schulte et al 2005), as a sister to Greigia and to Ochagavia and Fascicularia (Givnish et al 2011), or as a sister to eu-bromelioids (Evans et al 2015) or all other Bromelioideae (Givnish et al 2007;Schulte et al 2009;Sass & Specht 2010).…”

Flora of Guaramacal (Venezuela): Monocotyledons

“…Aguirre-Santoro and Betancur (2008); Faria et al (2004); Givnish et al (2011);Horres et al (2007); Sass and Specht (2010); Smith and Downs (1979). Aechmea, as currently circumscribed (e.g., Smith, 1971;Smith and Downs, 1979), is a highly polyphyletic genus (Smith and Till, 1998;Sass and Specht, 2010;Givnish et al, 2011), and there appear to be as many as six different origins of the species now assigned to what was once thought to be the largest genus in the Bromelioideae.…”

“…Barfuss et al (2005); Givnish et al (2007Givnish et al ( , 2011 ;Holst (1994); Hornung and Gaviria (1999); Horres et al (2000Horres et al ( , 2007; Oliva-Esteva and Steyermark (1987); Smith (1957Smith ( , 1971; Smith and Downs (1974; Smith and Till (1998); Smith and Wood (1975).…”

Vriesea (Bromeliaceae, Tillandsioideae): a cladistic analysis of eastern Brazilian species based on morphological characters

“…Phylogenetic studies have been conducted in the Bromeliaceae based on both molecular and morphological data. The first group of studies used different data sets, with a focus on relationships among the subfamilies (Ranker et al 1990;Terry et al 1997a;Horres et al 2000;Givnish et al 2007Givnish et al , 2011, within the subfamilies (Terry et al 1997b;Crayn et al 2000;Barfuss et al 2005;Horres et al 2007;Schulte et al 2009;Sass & Specht 2010) or within genera and subgenera (Rex et al 2007;Sousa et al 2007;Chew et al 2010;Versieux et al 2012). With the exception of the study of Gilmartin & Brown (1987), which questioned the monophyly of the family, its possible sistergroup, and the relationships among the subfamilies, phylogenetic analysis based on morphological data have focused on subfamilies (Varadarajan & Gilmartin 1988), tribes (Forzza 2001), genera (Gilmartin et al 1989;Leme 2000;Faria et al 2004;Hornung-Leoni & Sosa 2008;Almeida et al 2009;Monteiro 2009, Gomes-da-Silva et al 2012Saraiva 2013) or subgenera (Gilmartin & Brown 1986;Beaman & Judd 1996;Tardivo 2002;Sousa 2004) in all subfamilies.…”