SEQUENCES OF RDNA INTERNAL TRANSCRIBED SPACERS FROM THE CHLOROPLAST DNA OF 26 BRYOPHYTES - PROPERTIES AND PHYLOGENETIC UTILITY

We determined the sequence of the region of the chloroplast DNA invert ed repeat spanning from the 3'-terminus of the 23S rRNA gene to the 5' -terminus of the tRNA(Arg)(ACG) gene (about 700 bp) from 25 bryophytes and from the charophycean alga Chara australis. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences using the neighbor-joining method suggests an earl y dichotomy of bryophytes and their paraphyly relative to the tracheop hyte lineage, A monophyly of liverworts (Marchantiidae plus Jungermann iidae), a deep divergence of Metzgeriales among Jungermanniidae and a close affinity of tile two subclasses of mosses, Sphagnidae and Andrea eidae, are evident, The branching pattern observed is consistent with the phylogenetic distribution of several prominent indels observed in the alignment. (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.