title: Himalayan origin and evolution of Myricaria (Tamaricaeae) in the neogene.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Myricaria consists of about twelve-thirteen species and occurs in Eurasian North Temperate zone, most species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and adjacent areas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve species of Myricaria plus two other genera Tamarix and Reaumuria in Tamaricaceae, were sampled, and four markers, ITS, rps16, psbB-psbH, and trnL-trnF were sequenced. The relaxed Bayesian molecular clock BEAST method was used to perform phylogenetic analysis and molecular dating, and Diva, S-Diva, and maximum likelihood Lagrange were used to estimate the ancestral area. The results indicated that Myricaria could be divided into four phylogenetic clades, which correspond to four sections within the genus, of them two are newly described in this paper. The crown age of Myricaria was dated to early Miocene ca. 20 Ma, at the probable early uplifting time of the Himalayas. The Himalayas were also shown as the center of origin for Myricaria from the optimization of ancestral distribution. Migration and dispersal of Myricaria were indicated to have taken place along the Asian Mountains, including the Himalayas, Kunlun, Altun, Hendukosh, Tianshan, Altai, and Caucasus etc., westward to Europe, eastward to Central China, and northward to the Mongolian Plateau.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Myricaria spatiotemporal evolution presented here, especially the Himalayan origin at early Miocene ca. 20 Ma, and then migrated westward and eastward along the Asian mountains, offers a significant evolutionary case for QTP and Central Asian biogeography.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China; Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Hu
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Xiang
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Byalt V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Vyacheslav
authors.affiliation: Shrub Sciences Laboratory, Intermountain Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Utah, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stewart C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sanderson
mesh_terms: D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017343:Genes, Plant; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D032363:Tamaricaceae / Q000235:genetics*