Phylogeny of Malpighiaceae: Evidence from chloroplast NDHF and TRNL-F nucleotide sequences

The Malpighiaceae are a family of similar to 1250 species of predominantly New World tropical flowering plants. Infrafamilial classification has long been based on fruit characters. Phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast DNA nu cleotide sequences were analyzed to help resolve the phylogeny of Malpighia ceae. A total of 79 species. representing 58 of the 65 currently recognized genera. were studied. The 3' region of the gene ndhF was sequenced for 77 species and the noncoding intergenic spacer region trnL-F was sequenced for 65 species' both sequences were obtained for the outgroup, Humiria (Humiri aceae), Phylogenetic relationships inferred from these data,ets are largely congruent with one another and with results from combined analyses. The fa mily is divided into two major clades, recognized here as the subfamilies B yrsonimoideae (New World only) and Malpighioideae (New World and Old World) . Niedenzu's tribes are all polyphyletic, suggesting extensive convergence on similar fruit types; only de Jussieu's tribe Gaudichaudieae and Anderson 's tribes Acmanthereae and Galphimieae are monophyletic. Fleshy fruits evol ved three times in the family and bristly fruits at least three times. Amon g the wing-fruited vines, which constitute more than half the diversity in the family, genera with dorsal-winged samaras are fairly well resolved, whi le the resolution of taxa with lateral-winged samaras is poor. The trees su ggest a shift from radially symmetrical pollen arrangement to globally symm etrical pollen at the base of one of the clades within the Malpighioideae. The Old World taxa fall into at least six and as many as nine clades.