Molecular survey of the genus Hesperis L. (Brassicaceae) using nuclear and chloroplast markers

Hesperis L. distributed worldwide in Europe, Southwest Asia, Caucasia, Russia, mountain part of China and Mongolia, while the phylogenetic relationships among species remain unclear. In order to accomplish this goal, sequenced data resulting from nuclear-encoded ribosomal ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) and trnL-F (chloroplast DNA) were analyzed by different methods such as parsimony, Maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods for more than 100 accessions in world, demonstrating approximately all species entire distribution ranges, together with outgroups of selected members of different tribes of lineage III using *BEAST (ver. V1.7.4), Mega (ver. 6.06) and MrBayes (ver. 3.2) software programs. The results have clearly shown high posterior probability/bootstrap support for more Hesperis specimens as a monophyletic group. Divergence time estimations, utilizing both a secondary calibration approach and published ITS substitution rates, clearly clarified the time of the origin of Hesperis.

Keywords:

Hesperideae , Brassicaceae , divergence time estimation , Phylogeny , Hesperis