St. Meiers et al., PHYLOGENY OF THE CHARACEAE (CHAROPHYTA) INFERRED FROM ORGANISMAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERS, Archiv fur Protistenkunde, 148(3), 1997, pp. 308-317
Phylogenetic hypotheses proposed for extant genera of the Characeae by
WOOD & IMAHORI (1965) and by KHAN & SARMA (1984) are based on morphol
ogical characters, and morphological characters and chromosome numbers
respectively. For all six extant taxa, cladistic analyses have been p
erformed on organismal characters and chromosome numbers, sequence dat
a from the nucelar-encoded small subunit rRNA gene, and a combined mor
phological and molecular data set. These analyses support: 1) monophyl
y of the Characeae, 2) monophyly of tribe Chareae, 3) placement of Nit
ellopsis basal to the rest of the Chareae, and 4) monophyly of Lamprot
hamnium. Neither the WOOD & IMAHORI nor the KHAN & SARMA hypothesis is
strongly supported. Additional analyses based on a more comprehensive
taxon sampling may help resolve: 1) monophyly of Chara, 2) monophyly
of Nitella, 3) monophyly of the Nitelleae, 4) placement of Nitella axi
llaris, and 5) placement of Lamprothamnium.