Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Conringia Heist. Ex Fabr. (Brassicaceae) in Turkey based on nuclear (nrITS) and chloroplast (trnL-F) DNA sequences

Abstract

In this study, phylogenetic analysis of Turkish Conringia (Brassicaceae) species was conducted based on nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrITS) and chloroplast DNA (trnL-F) sequences. In addition, the relationships between the sequences of some Brassicaceae family species retrieved from NCBI, and Conringia species were documented. All of the plant specimens were collected at their flowering and vegetation periods from different regions of Turkey, and brought to the laboratory. Total genomic DNA was extracted using the GeneMark kit. In PCR analyses, ITS4 and ITS5A primers were used for the amplification of the nrITS region, while the trnLe and trnLf primers were used for the cpDNA trnL-F region. The DNA sequences obtained were then edited using BioEdit and FinchTV, and analyzed using MEGA 6.0 software. Neighbor joining (NJ) and bootstrap trees were constructed in order to identify the relationships among Conringia taxa. The nrITS sequences ranged between 573 and 672 nucleotides, while the trnL-F sequences ranged between 346 and 764 nucleotides. The divergence values of nrITS sequences differed between 0.177 and 0.00 and divergence values of trnL-F sequences differed between 0.902 and 0.00. NJ tree generated using nrITS and trnL-F sequences consisted of two clades. In trees generated with both the nrITS and trnL-F sequences, C. orientalis, C. grandiflora and C. austriaca appeared within the same group. In addition, according to the phylogenetic analysis results obtained with other Brassicaceae species, it is revealed that the Conringia genus is polyphyletic.