Plant Diversity ›› 2024, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (04): 462-475.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2024.04.011

• Articles • Previous Articles    

Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of Phlomoides (Lamiaceae subfamily Lamioideae) in China: Insights from molecular and morphological data

Yue Zhaoa,b, Ya-Ping Chena, Bryan T. Drewc, Fei Zhaod, Maryam Almasie, Orzimat T. Turginovf,g, Jin-Fei Xiaoa, Abdul G. Karimih, Yasaman Salmakie, Xiang-Qin Yua, Chun-Lei Xianga   

  1. a. CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, China;
    b. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010000, Inner Mongolia, China;
    c. Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849, USA;
    d. CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chengdu 610042, Sichuan, China;
    e. Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, Department of Plant Science, College of Science, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 14155-6455, Tehran, Iran;
    f. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent 100047, Uzbekistan;
    g. Faculty of Biology, Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek, Tashkent 100174, Uzbekistan;
    h. Faculty of Pharmacy, Kabul University, 1006 Kabul, Afghanistan
  • Received:2023-12-18 Revised:2024-04-22 Published:2024-07-29
  • Contact: Yasaman Salmaki,E-mail:ysalmaki@ut.ac.ir;Xiang-Qin Yu,E-mail:yuxiangqin@mail.kib.ac.cn;Chun-Lei Xiang,E-mail:xiangchunlei@mail.kib.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32161143015), International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (070GJHZ202211FN), the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (202001AS070016), the “Ten Thousand Talents Program of Yunnan” (Top-notch Young Talents Project, No. YNWR-QNBJ-2018-279), the CAS Interdisciplinary Team of the “Light of West China” program, and Yunnan Revitalization Talent Support Program “Innovation Team” project to CLX, the Iran National Science Foundation to YS (4001651), and the open research project of the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We thank Mr. Ming-Le Li for help with collecting plant materials. The authors thank to anonymous referees for giving some valuable comments on this paper.

Abstract: Phlomoides, with 150–170 species, is the second largest and perhaps most taxonomically challenging genus within the subfamily Lamioideae (Lamiaceae). With about 60 species, China is one of three major biodiversity centers of Phlomoides. Although some Phlomoides species from China have been included in previous molecular phylogenetic studies, a robust and broad phylogeny of this lineage has yet to be completed. Moreover, given the myriad new additions to the genus, the existing infrageneric classification needs to be evaluated and revised. Here, we combine molecular and morphological data to investigate relationships within Phlomoides, with a focus on Chinese species. We observed that plastid DNA sequences can resolve relationships within Phlomoides better than nuclear ribosomal internal and external transcribed spacer regions (nrITS and nrETS). Molecular phylogenetic analyses confirm the monophyly of Phlomoides, but most previously defined infrageneric groups are not monophyletic. In addition, morphological analysis demonstrates the significant taxonomic value of eight characters to the genus. Based on our molecular phylogenetic analyses and morphological data, we establish a novel section Notochaete within Phlomoides, and propose three new combinations as well as three new synonyms. This study presents the first molecular phylogenetic analyses of Phlomoides in which taxa representative of the entire genus are included, and highlights the phylogenetic and taxonomic value of several morphological characters from species of Phlomoides from China. Our study suggests that a taxonomic revision and reclassification for the entire genus is necessary in the future.

Key words: Lamioideae, Molecular phylogenetics, Morphology, Phlomideae, Taxonomy