A molecular contribution for understanding the Lembophyllaceae (Bryopsida)based on noncoding chloroplast regions (cpDNA) and ITS2 (nrDNA) sequence data - Studies in austral temperate rain forest bryophytes 8

SO far morphological approaches have produced little consensus in formulati ng clear definitions of the mostly southern hemispheric Lembophyllaceae and Meteoriaceae, two pleurocarpous and mainly epiphytic moss families. The ge neric limits proposed by various authors have resulted in an overlap of fam ily concepts, and the systematic position of genera such as Weymouthia and Pilotrichella has been unsettled since the description of these families by Brotherus (1907) and Kindberg (1897). A molecular approach based on sequen ce data of two noncoding regions of the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), trnL(UAA) intron and trnL(UAA) 3'exon-trnF(GAA) intergenic spacer (trn data) as well as sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) provides new evidence supporting the transfer of the genus Weymouthia into the Lembophyllaceae. Although the inter- and intrage neric sequence divergence is extremely low the highly congruent maximally p arsimonious trees from Im and ITS2 data sets suggest a close relationship o f the Lembophyllaceae taxa sensu Tangney (1997 b). The Lembophyllaceae as t reated here contain five genera Camptochaete, Lembophyllum, Fifea, Fallacie lla and Weymouthia. Within the Meteoriaceae Meteorium and Papillar ia are r etained as separate genera, while Weymouthia is excluded from the Meteoriac eae and transferred to the Lembophyllaceae. The molecular data does not ali gn Pilotrichella with either the Meteoriaceae or the Lembophyllaceae sample d. A transfer of Pilotrichella into the Lembophyllaceae is not supported. P ulchrinodus inflatus is neither part of the genus I Weymouthia nor of the M eteoriaceae or Lembophyllaceae.