Phylogeny Of Helieae (gentianaceae): Resolving Taxonomic Chaos In A Neotropical Clade

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)The monophyletic and Neotropical tribe Helieae of the worldwide family Gentianaceae (Gentianales, Asterids, Angiospermae) is well known for its problematic generic classifications. An initial phylogenetic analysis of Helieae shed light onto the relationships between genera, and indicated that traditional generic limits did not correspond to monophyletic groups. In order to obtain a more thorough understanding of generic relationships within the group, we enhanced sampling within the so-called Symbolanthus clade and performed phylogenetic analyses from DNA sequences from one plastid region (matK) and two nuclear regions (ITS and 5S-NTS), plus 112 morphological characters, which were analyzed separately and in combination, using parsimony and Bayesian approaches. A total of 83 individuals representing 20 genera and 51 species of Helieae were sampled; 13 species were included in this study solely based on their morphological characters. Ancestral character reconstructions were performed to identify potential synapomorphies of clades and patterns of homoplasy in the morphological dataset. Our results demonstrate that Prepusa is sister to the remainder of Helieae. Furthermore, the Macrocarpaea clade, the Irlbachia clade and the Symbolanthus clade were also recovered. Within the Symbolanthus clade, our results confirm that Calolisianthus and Chelonanthus are not monophyletic, and also contest the monophyly of Irlbachia as currently circumscribed. Specifically, two species of Calolisianthus group with the type species of Chelonanthus, while the other Calolisianthus species are more closely related to Tetrapollinia and Symbolanthus. Moreover, the green-white-flowered Chelonanthus species and Adenolisianthus are undoubtedly related to Helia and several analyses support Irlbachia pratensis as more closely related to the lineage including the type species of Chelonanthus described above The addition of new characters and taxa led to higher confidence in the relative position of some clades, as well as provided further support for a new generic circumscription of Calolisianthus, Chelonanthus, and Helia. Even though several morphological characters traditionally used in the taxonomy of the group were shown to be homoplasious, most clades can be diagnosed by a combination of morphological character states. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.106192208#2003/10918-3, FAPESP, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo305776/2010-0, CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoNSF-DEB 317612, NSF, National Science FoundationFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora