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Abstract Detail


Systematics Section / ASPT

Burleigh, J. Gordon [1], Mathews, Sarah [2].

Supermatrix analyses place Gnetales as sister to all conifers.

Only about 6% of extant gymnosperms have been included in any molecular analysis of seed plant relationships, yet sequences from approximately 70% are available in public databases. We assembled a phylogenetic supermatrix containing over 2.7 million nucleotides from 688 gymnosperms. Due to sampling biases in GenBank, 95.25% of the 58 million cells in the supermatrix are empty. Nonetheless, analyses of the supermatrix strongly support the monophyly of conifers. When subsets of the supermatrix are analyzed, deleting taxa but not characters, conifer monophyly receives reduced support or alternative topologies are supported. This finding provides a fresh perspective on one of the most enigmatic questions in plant evolutionary history.


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1 - National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, 2024 W. Main Street, Suite A200, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
2 - Harvard University, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

Keywords:
gymnosperms
conifer monophyly
Gnetales
supermatrix analyses.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: CP42
Location: Boulevard C/Hilton
Date: Wednesday, July 11th, 2007
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: CP42003
Abstract ID:1719


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