Phylogeny and biogeography of Plectranthus L'Hérit (Ocimeae: nepetoideae: lamiaceae) with emphasis on taxa occuring on the Nyika Plateau, Malawi

• Main Author: Mwanyambo, Montfort Lutamyo
• Published: University of Reading 2008
• Subjects: 583.96
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.494789

A molecular phylogeny of the genus Plectranthus L' Herit. and its allies in subtribe Plectranthinae is presented based on chloroplast markers tmL intron, tmL 3' exon, tmL-tmF intergenic spacer; rpsl6 intron, and tmS-tmG intergenic spacer. Topologies derived from Maximum Parsimony (MP) and Bayesian inference are presented for both separate and combined data sets. MP and Bayesian topologies, for the respective data sets, are largely congruent. Two main groups emerge in subtribe Plectranthinae i.e. Coleus group and Plectranthus group. For individual data sets, the posterior probabilities consistently support monophyly of subtribe Plectranthinae. but support is variable for either the Coleus group or Plectranthus group; except for tmS-tmG that has posterior probability support for both clades. Bootstrap supporrt (>_ 50%) is scanty for Plectranthinae (tmL-tmF only) and Coleus (rpsl6 only) clades and totally lacking for the Plectranthus group. Data combination consistently recovers supported monophyly (bootstrap support and posterior probabilities) for both the Plectranthinae and Coleus clades while support is variable for the Plectranthus group.