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Australian Systematic Botany Australian Systematic Botany Society
Taxonomy, biogeography and evolution of plants
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Phylogenetic positioning of anomalous eucalypts by using ITS sequence data

Dorothy A. Steane A C , Dean Nicolle B and Brad M. Potts A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Plant Science and CRC for Forestry, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

B Currency Creek Arboretum Eucalypt Research, 15 Rousillion Promenade, Old Reynella, SA 5161, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: Dorothy.Steane@utas.edu.au

Australian Systematic Botany 20(5) 402-408 https://doi.org/10.1071/SB07013
Submitted: 13 March 2007  Accepted: 7 August 2007   Published: 8 November 2007

Abstract

We investigated the phylogenetic affinities of the following six taxonomically anomalous species of Eucalyptus: E. cladocalyx, E. cosmophylla, E. gomphocephala, E. longifolia, E. paludicola and E. pumila. ITS sequence data were obtained from these species and combined with an existing large ITS data set for subgenus Symphyomyrtus. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony and Bayesian approaches showed that E. longifolia belongs in section Maidenaria and E. gomphocephala belongs in section Bisectae I. The phylogenetic affinities of the other four species were not fully resolved by ITS sequence data. E. cladocalyx has affinities with sections Adnataria, Dumaria and Bisectae I; E. cosmophylla and E. paludicola have affinities with sections Exsertaria, Latoangulatae and Maidenaria; and E. pumila appears to be a morphologically divergent member of section Latoangulatae or Exsertae. The implications of the results for conservation of native eucalypt gene pools are discussed.


Acknowledgements

We thank Emma Hartley for technical assistance, and Mike Bayly (University of Melbourne) for confirming that none of the sequences in our study was a pseudogene.


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