Infrageneric relationships of Korean Viola based on eight chloroplast markers

Abstract

Abstract Phylogeny and infrageneric relationships were reconstructed for Korean Viola (Violaceae) using eight chloroplast sequences: the atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer, the atpF-H intergenic spacer, the matK gene, the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer, the psbK-I intergenic spacer, the rpl16 intron, the rpoC1 exon 2, and the trnL-trnF regions. The combined analyses of the eight chloroplast regions suggest that sections Dischidium and Chamaemelanium are monophyletic, whereas section Nomimium is paraphyletic; sections Dischidium and Chamaemelanium form a clade with subsections Hypocarpae and Trigonocarpae of section Nomimium, but unresolved within the clade; two subsections (subsects. Bilobatae and Vaginatae) of section Nomimium form a clade and are placed between the stem and stemless species group; and subsection Patellares of section Nomimium is monophyletic, and Viola dissecta is diverged first in the clade with high support (BS = 100, PP = 100). Our present results support the subsectional grouping based on morphological characteristics, although discordance remained at the series level.