Am. J. Bot.
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(American Journal of Botany. 2007;94:1230-1247.)
© 2007 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Systematics and Phytogeography

Inflorescence diversification in the "finger millet clade" (Chloridoideae, Poaceae): a comparison of molecular phylogeny and developmental morphology1

Qing Liu6, Paul M. Peterson, J. Travis Columbus, Nanxian Zhao, Gang Hao and Dianxiang Zhang

South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China; Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 USA; Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, California 91711-3157 USA; College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

ABSTRACT

Within the Poaceae, inflorescence diversification and its bearing on phylogeny and evolution are exceedingly complex. We used phylogenetic information of the "finger millet clade," a group of grasses with digitate inflorescences, to study the inflorescence diversification. This clade appears monophyletic in the morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Three well-supported clades are shown in our cpDNA-derived phylogeny, with clades I and III consisting of species of Chloris and Microchloa, respectively, and clade II including species of Cynodon, Dactyloctenium, and Eleusine. Variation appears at different times throughout development. Changes involving primordium number and arrangement occur very early, changes involving duration of primordium activity occur much later. Characters derived from the comparison of developmental sequences were optimized onto the most parsimonious tree. The developmental characters were congruent with the molecular phylogeny. Two developmental characters may not be homologous in the Chloris subclade and the Cynodon subclade.

Key Words: Chloridoideae • development • finger millet clade • inflorescence • phylogeny • Poaceae






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