Abstract Detail

Pteridological Section/AFS

Small, Randall [1], Lickey, Edgar [1], Shaw, Joey [1], Hauk, Warren [2].

Amplification of non-coding chloroplast DNA for phylogenetic studies in Pteridophytes and Lycophytes.

Phylogenetic studies at the interspecific level in angiosperms often employ a variety of non-coding chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequences for which “universal” PCR primers are available. Interspecific studies of pteridophyte and lycophyte phylogeny are fewer in number, however, and only a small number of non-coding cpDNA regions have been explored in these lineages. In a recent study we evaluated levels of variation in 21 different non-coding cpDNA regions in seed plants. One purpose of the present study is to determine which of these regions can also be amplified in pteridophytes and lycophytes using the PCR primers designed for seed plants. Taxon sampling for this portion of the study includes representatives of all lycophyte families (Lycopodiaceae, Selaginellaceae, and Isoetaceae); Psilotum; Equisetum; eusporangiate ferns (Ophioglossum and Angiopteris) and several species representing the phylogenetic diversity of leptosporangiate ferns. In addition to this broad survey, cpDNA sequence variation in one region that was particularly variable in seed plants (the trnS [GCU] - trnG [UCC] intergenic spacer + the trnG [UCC] intron) was evaluated in Ophioglossaceae to compare levels of variability of this region with data previously obtained from three other cpDNA regions (the gene rbcL, the trnL-trnF intergenic spacer, and the rpL16 intron).

1 - University of Tennessee, Department of Botany, 437 Hesler Biology, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, USA
2 - Denison University, Department of Biology, Granville, Ohio, 43023, USA

Keywords:
pteridophyte
lycophyte
chloroplast DNA.

Presentation Type: Paper
Session: 10-6
Location: Superior B (Cliff Lodge)
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2004
Time: 11:00 AM
Abstract ID:284