CONGRUENCE BETWEEN MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETIES IN PROSARTES (LILIACEAE)

cp DNA variations were examined in 5 genera of the tribe Polygonatae, for 60 probe-enzyme combinations, to study Disporum-Prosartes generic separation problem. The shared fragments were counted, index of simila rity and distance matrix was calculated. The distance within the genus Prosartes was 0.033, while it differed from Disporum in 0.34-0.342. T he difference of Prosartes from Streptopus was 0.217, while between Di sporum and Uvularia was 0.164-0.171. The data was examined using Neigh bour Joining (NJ) and Fitch-Margoliash methods. The divergence between Disporum and Prosartes was greater than that between Disporum and Uvu laria or Prosartes and Streptopus. Within the genus Prosartes, P. macu lata was different from the rest of the Prosartes species. rbcL gene s equence data revealed that north American Prosartes and Asian Disporum species differed by 90-96 substitution (100d = 6.92-7.41). The base s ubstitution between Disporum and Prosartes is much greater than that b etween Prosartes and Streptopus (14-16, 100d = 1.03-1.18) or that betw een Disporum and Uvularia (23-26, 100d = 1.70-2.01). The results suppo rt recent morphological, karyological and molecular arguments of the r estoration of genus Prosartes as an independent genus. The results als o indicate that Uvularia is closly related to Disporum while Streptopu s is closer to the genus Prosartes.