A Hyb-Seq phylogeny of Boechera and related genera using a combination of Angiosperms353 and Brassicaceae-specific bait sets

Premise: Although Boechera (Boechereae, Brassicaceae) has become a plant model system for both ecological genomics and evolutionary biology, all previous phylogenetic studies have had limited success in resolving species relationships within the genus. The recent effective application of sequence data from target enrichment approaches to resolve the evolutionary relationships of several other challenging plant groups prompted us to investigate their usefulness in Boechera and Boechereae.Methods: To resolve the phylogeny of Boechera and closely related genera, we utilized the Hybpiper pipeline to analyze two combined bait sets: Angiosperms353, with broad applicability across flowering plants; and a Brassicaceae‐specific bait set designed for use in the mustard family. Relationships for 101 samples representing 81 currently recognized species were inferred from a total of 1114 low‐copy nuclear genes using both supermatrix and species coalescence methods.Results: Our analyses resulted in a well‐resolved and highly supported phylogeny of the tribe Boechereae. Boechereae is divided into two major clades, one comprising all western North American species of Boechera, the other encompassing the eight other genera of the tribe. Our understanding of relationships within Boechera is enhanced by the recognition of three core clades that are further subdivided into robust regional species complexes.Conclusions: This study presents the first broadly sampled, well‐resolved phylogeny for most known sexual diploid Boechera. This effort provides the foundation for a new phylogenetically informed taxonomy of Boechera that is crucial for its continued use as a model system.Plant sciencesNaturali

Reconstruction and phylogenetic significance of a new Equisetum Linnaeus species from the Lower Jurassic of Cerro Bayo (Chubut province, Argentina)

We describe Equisetum dimorphum sp. nov. from the Lower Jurassic of Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. This new species is based on fertile and vegetative remains preserved as impressions of stems, leaves, strobili, transversal sections of the stems showing their anatomy, and terminal pagoda-like structures. The fine-grained sedimentary matrix also preserved detailed impressions of epidermal features. The morphological characters allow a whole-plant reconstruction and assignment to Equisetum. Equisetum dimorphum sp. nov. shows a mosaic of morphological characters that are commonly present in other Mesozoic forms and representatives of the two extant Equisetum subgenera, e.g., sunken stomata and a blunt strobilus apex. Compared to other well-known Mesozoic equisetalean taxa, Equisetum dimorphum sp. nov. appears to be most closely related to a group of Jurassic Equisetum-like plants including Equisetum laterale Phillips and Equisetites ferganensis Seward. Additional evidence for the morphological stasis of the fertile and vegetative organs of extant horsetails is supplied with this new material, adding further support to the hypothesis that the extant horsetails are a successful group that has undergone only little morphological changeover time and that has been present, nearly worldwide, since Jurassic times.VR 2014-5232 The evolutionary history of fern