Evolution of the intercontinental disjunctions in six continents in the Ampelopsis clade of the grape family (Vitaceae).

Ze-Long Nie,Hang Sun,Steven R Manchester,Quentin Luke,Ying Meng,Jun Wen

doi:10.1186/1471-2148-12-17

Abstract

BackgroundThe Ampelopsis clade (Ampelopsis and its close allies) of the grape family Vitaceae contains ca. 43 species disjunctly distributed in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia, and is a rare example to study both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere intercontinental disjunctions. We reconstruct the temporal and spatial diversification of the Ampelopsis clade to explore the evolutionary processes that have resulted in their intercontinental disjunctions in six continents.ResultsThe Bayesian molecular clock dating and the likelihood ancestral area analyses suggest that the Ampelopsis clade most likely originated in North America with its crown group dated at 41.2 Ma (95% HPD 23.4 - 61.0 Ma) in the middle Eocene. Two independent Laurasian migrations into Eurasia are inferred to have occurred in the early Miocene via the North Atlantic land bridges. The ancestor of the Southern Hemisphere lineage migrated from North America to South America in the early Oligocene. The Gondwanan-like pattern of intercontinental disjunction is best explained by two long-distance dispersals: once from South America to Africa estimated at 30.5 Ma (95% HPD 16.9 - 45.9 Ma), and the other from South America to Australia dated to 19.2 Ma (95% HPD 6.7 - 22.3 Ma).ConclusionsThe global disjunctions in the Ampelopsis clade are best explained by a diversification model of North American origin, two Laurasian migrations, one migration into South America, and two post-Gondwanan long-distance dispersals. These findings highlight the importance of both vicariance and long distance dispersal in shaping intercontinental disjunctions of flowering plants.

Highlights

The Ampelopsis clade (Ampelopsis and its close allies) of the grape family Vitaceae contains ca. 43 species disjunctly distributed in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia, and is a rare example to study both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere intercontinental disjunctions
The Bayesian consensus tree is highly congruent with the maximum clade credibility tree obtained from BEAST and the later is shown in Figure 2 with posterior probabilities (PP) support values > 0.50
South America is inferred as part of the ancestral areas (Table 1), it seems less likely to be the ancestral area of the Ampelopsis clade than North America because there are very few fossils known before the Eocene of South America [47]

Summary

Introduction

The Ampelopsis clade (Ampelopsis and its close allies) of the grape family Vitaceae contains ca. 43 species disjunctly distributed in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia, and is a rare example to study both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere intercontinental disjunctions. 43 species disjunctly distributed in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia, and is a rare example to study both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere intercontinental disjunctions. Taxa disjunct at the global level involving both Northern and Southern Hemisphere are informative because their histories may have general implications for other groups. The third is less common concerning the possible route between Asia and Australia in the Miocene and later [18,19]. These three routes can be viewed as alternative hypotheses for the ex situ origin of elements of global diversity

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