THE PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF EAST-ASIAN SEDUM SPECIES (CRASSULACEAE) BASED ON CHLOROPLAST DNA TRNL (UAA)-TRNF (GAA) INTERGENIC SPACER SEQUENCE VARIATION

Phylogenetic relationships of 27 Crassulaceae species, including a bro ad sample of 19 Sedum species, were inferred from sequence variation o f the chloroplast trnL (UAA)-tmF (GAA) intergenic spacer to assess the position of alkaloid containing Asian Sedum species. The overall topo logy of the phylogeny fully agrees with results based on chloroplast D NA restriction-site variation. The five alkaloidal, Asian Sedum specie s are included in the Acre lineage. These results support Steven's and co-workers (1995) hypothesis on the distribution of alkaloids in the Crassulaceae which states that the occurrence of alkaloids is restrict ed to the species of the Acre lineage. Although monophyly of the Acre lineage is strongly supported, relationships within this clade are onl y partially resolved, probably as a result of incomplete systematic sa mpling.