title: Phylogeny of the clusioid clade (Malpighiales): evidence from the plastid and mitochondrial genomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The clusioid clade includes five families (i.e., Bonnetiaceae, Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae s.s., Hypericaceae, and Podostemaceae) represented by 94 genera and ≈1900 species. Species in this clade form a conspicuous element of tropical forests worldwide and are important in horticulture, timber production, and pharmacology. We conducted a taxon-rich multigene phylogenetic analysis of the clusioids to clarify phylogenetic relationships in this clade.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed plastid (matK, ndhF, and rbcL) and mitochondrial (matR) nucleotide sequence data using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. Our combined data set included 194 species representing all major clusioid subclades, plus numerous species spanning the taxonomic, morphological, and biogeographic breadth of the clusioid clade.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results indicate that Tovomita (Clusiaceae s.s.), Harungana and Hypericum (Hypericaceae), and Ledermanniella s.s. and Zeylanidium (Podostemaceae) are not monophyletic. In addition, we place four genera that have not been included in any previous molecular study: Ceratolacis, Diamantina, and Griffithella (Podostemaceae), and Santomasia (Hypericaceae). Finally, our results indicate that Lianthus, Santomasia, Thornea, and Triadenum can be safely merged into Hypericum (Hypericaceae).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present the first well-resolved, taxon-rich phylogeny of the clusioid clade. Taxon sampling and resolution within the clade are greatly improved compared to previous studies and provide a strong basis for improving the classification of the group. In addition, our phylogeny will form the foundation for our future work investigating the biogeography of tropical angiosperms that exhibit Gondwanan distributions.
authors: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. bruhfel@oeb.harvard.edu
authors: Brad R
authors: BR
authors: Ruhfel
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Bittrich
authors: Claudia P
authors: CP
authors: Bove
authors: Mats H G
authors: MH
authors: Gustafsson
authors: C Thomas
authors: CT
authors: Philbrick
authors: Rolf
authors: R
authors: Rutishauser
authors: Zhenxiang
authors: Z
authors: Xi
authors: Charles C
authors: CC
authors: Davis