Dataset Information

Phylogenetic analysis of rbcL sequences identifies Acorus calamus as the primal extant monocotyledon.

ABSTRACT: The identity of the oldest lineage of monocotyledons is a subject of debate. Alternative interpretations of morphological homologies are variously consistent with proposals that species of Alismatanae, Dioscoreales, or Melanthiales were the earliest descendants of the first monocotyledons. We present phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of the plastid locus rbcL in which Acorus calamus, an herb with unspecialized floral features and of uncertain affinities, is supported as a member of the oldest extant lineage of monocotyledons. This conclusion is consistent with a substantial body of morphological, anatomical, and embryological evidence and offers an explanation for the failure to identify any close relationship between Acorus and other genera.

SUBMITTER: Duvall MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC46568 | biostudies-other | 1993 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Phylogenetic analysis of rbcL sequences identifies Acorus calamus as the primal extant monocotyledon.

Duvall M R MR Learn G H GH Eguiarte L E LE Clegg M T MT

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 19930501 10

The identity of the oldest lineage of monocotyledons is a subject of debate. Alternative interpretations of morphological homologies are variously consistent with proposals that species of Alismatanae, Dioscoreales, or Melanthiales were the earliest descendants of the first monocotyledons. We present phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of the plastid locus rbcL in which Acorus calamus, an herb with unspecialized floral features and of uncertain affinities, is supported as a member of th ...[more]

PMID: 8506310

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Dataset Information

Phylogenetic analysis of rbcL sequences identifies Acorus calamus as the primal extant monocotyledon.

Publications

Phylogenetic analysis of rbcL sequences identifies Acorus calamus as the primal extant monocotyledon.

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