title: Evolution of Asparagus L. (Asparagaceae): Out-of-South-Africa and multiple origins of sexual dimorphism.
abstract: In the most comprehensive study to date we explored the phylogeny and evolution of the genus Asparagus, with emphasis on the southern African species. We included 211 accessions, representing 77 (92%) of the southern African, 6 (17%) of the tropical African, 10 (56%) of the strictly European and 6 (9%) of the Eurasian species. We analyzed DNA sequences from three plastid regions (trnH-psbA, trnD-T, ndhF) and from the nuclear region phytochrome C (PHYC) with parsimony and maximum likelihood methods, and recovered a monophyletic Asparagus. The phylogeny conflicts with all previous infra-generic classifications. It has many strongly supported clades, corroborated by morphological characters, which may provide a basis for a revised taxonomy. Additionally, the phylogeny indicates that many of the current species delimitations are problematic. Using biogeographic analyses that account for phylogenetic uncertainty (S-DIVA) and take into account relative branch lengths (Lagrange) we confirm the origin of Asparagus in southern Africa, and find no evidence that the dispersal of Asparagus follow the Rand flora pattern. We find that all truly dioecious species of Asparagus share a common origin, but that sexual dimorphism has arisen independently several times.
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83, Opg. S, K-1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Maria F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Norup
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83, Opg. S, K-1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Gitte
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Buffelskloof Nature Reserve Herbarium, P.O. Box 710, Lydenburg 1120, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sandie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burrows
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Yanis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bouchenak-Khelladi
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leebens-Mack
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, 371 B Life Sciences Center, 1201 Rollins Road, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211-7310, USA.
authors.forename: J Chris
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: H Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83, Opg. S, K-1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Electronic address: Oles@snm.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Seberg
mesh_terms: D000353:Africa, Southern; D001208:Asia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005060:Europe; D035264:Flowers; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D019668:Liliaceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D010834:Phytochrome / Q000235:genetics; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D010834:Phytochrome
keywords: Infrageneric structure; PHYC; Phylogeny; Sexual dimorphism; Species complexes; cpDNA