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Molecular phylogeny and systematics of flowering plants of the family Crassulaceae DC

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Abstract

Crassulaceae (orpine or stonecrop family) is the most species-rich (ca. 1400 spp) family in the order Saxifragales. Most members of the family are succulent plants. Phenotypic diversity and large number of species complicates systematics of the family and obscures reconstruction of relationship within it. Phylogenetic analyzes based on morphological and molecular markers placed Crassulaceae as one of the crown clades of Saxifragales. In this contribution a review of phylogenetic studies on the family Crassulaceae, based on DNA nucleotide sequence comparisons is presented; major clades established in the family are characterised; their structure and polyphylesis of some genera are discussed. It is shown that the traditional taxonomic structure of Crassulaceae contradicts pattern of phylogenetic relationships between its members. We critically analyzed recent taxonomic systems of the family and stress that homoplasy of morphological characters does not allow to use them to reconstruct relationships between crassulacean taxa even at the low taxonomic levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanical garden-institute of the Far-Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690024, Russia

    S. B. Gontcharova

  2. Institute of Biology and Soil Science of the Far-Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690022, Russia

    A. A. Gontcharov

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Original Russian Text © S.B. Gontcharova, A.A. Gontcharov, 2009, published in Molekulyarnaya Biologiya, 2009, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 856–865.

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Gontcharova, S.B., Gontcharov, A.A. Molecular phylogeny and systematics of flowering plants of the family Crassulaceae DC. Mol Biol 43, 794–803 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026893309050112

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