Preliminary phylogenetic relationships of the genus Brotherella and its allied genera (hypnales, musci) based on chloroplast rbcL sequence data

Distinction between the Hypnaceae and the Sematophyllaceae is controversial . Taxonomic position of the genera Brotherella, Wijkia and its allies is st ill fluctuating and has been repeatedly discussed. A phylogenetic study was carried out to investigate the phylogenetic position of the genera Brother ella, Wijkia and their allies, based on phylogenetic analyses of the chloro plast ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (rbcL) gene data. Chloroplast rbcL genes from eight mosses were newly sequenced. P hylogenetic trees were constructed by neighbor-joining (NJ), minimum-evolut ion (ME), maximum-parsimony (MP) and maximum-likelihood (ML) methods for 30 rbcL sequences. The results suggest that the genus Brotherella and its all ies (Pylaisiadelpha tenuirostris, Wijkia hornschuchii and Heterophyllium ne matosum) are monophyletic with high bootstrap support. Hypnum tristo-viride is also included in the Brotherella clade. The Sematophyllaceae (sensu Sek i 1968) are paraphyletic to the Brotherella clade. These results support th e conclusion that the Sematophyllaceae (sensu present), including Brotherel la and its allies, are monophyletic. The present study also suggests that t he genus Entodon should be placed in a clade sister to the Sematophyllaceae (sensu present). The results show the need to reconsider the familial circ umscription of the Hypnaceae and Sematophyllaceae.