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Highly Resolved Papilionoid Legume Phylogeny Based on Plastid Phylogenomics
In-Su Choi1, Domingos Cardoso2, Luciano P de Queiroz3
1School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States.
Frontiers in Plant Science
|March 14, 2022
Summary
This study resolves most deep evolutionary relationships within the diverse Papilionoideae subfamily using plastome data. However, the precise placement of five lineages within the legume family remains uncertain, requiring further genomic research.
Area of Science:
- Plant evolutionary biology
- Phylogenomics
- Angiosperm systematics
Background:
- Papilionoideae, the largest subfamily of legumes (Fabaceae), exhibits immense species diversity (14,000 species) and ecological success.
- While plastid DNA analyses have advanced understanding of legume relationships, the subfamily's deep phylogenetic backbone remains unresolved.
- Papilionoids are crucial for global food and forage, necessitating a clear understanding of their evolutionary history.
Purpose of the Study:
- To resolve the unresolved backbone phylogeny of the Papilionoideae subfamily.
- To analyze phylogenetic relationships using newly sequenced plastomes from diverse papilionoid genera.
- To investigate the impact of genome-scale data on understanding legume evolutionary history.
Main Methods:
- Sequencing and assembly of 39 new papilionoid plastomes.
- Phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood (ML) on entire plastomes and concatenated protein-coding sequences (CDS).
- Multispecies coalescent (MSC) analyses based on individual gene trees using CDS and matK sequences.
Main Results:
- A ML tree based on entire plastomes strongly supported most deep and recent divergences (223/236 nodes).
- The Swartzieae, ADA, Cladrastis, Andira, and Exostyleae clades were resolved as an early-diverging grade.
- Phylogenetic relationships among five papilionoid lineages (Vataireoid, Dermatophyllum, Genistoid s.l., Dalbergioid s.l., Baphieae + NPAAA) remained uncertain due to insufficient support.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully resolved the majority of deep phylogenetic nodes within the Papilionoideae subfamily.
- Further genome-scale data and advanced analyses are required to fully disentangle the relationships of the five uncertain lineages.
- This research provides a robust framework for future investigations into legume evolution and diversification.
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