A systematic study of Glechoma L. (Lamiaceae) based on micromorphological characters and nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences
2014
Jang, T.S., Kyunghee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea | Lee, J.K., Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea | Hong, S.P., Kyunghee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
The petal and sepal micromorphology of five species of Glechoma (Lamiaceae) was investigated to evaluate their taxonomic significance, and a molecular phylogeny using the sequences of internal transcribed spacers (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA was carried out to resolve their phylogenetic relationships. Stomatal complexes were mostly found in the inner and outer part of the sepal from all investigated taxa, and the size length of the guard cell was variable among the taxa. Five types of trichomes (uni-cellular non-glandular trichome, multi-cellular nonglandular trichome, short-stalked capitate glandular trichome, long-stalked capitate glandular trichome, and peltate glandular trichome) were variable among the taxa as well as their distribution and density. In molecular phylogenetic studies, the genus Glechoma was composed of three geographically distinct major monophyletic groups (Europe-U.S.A., China-Korea, Japan). G. longituba in Korea and China formed well-supported monophyletic group. G. hederacea in Europe and U.S.A. formed a monophyletic and well-supported clade with G. sardoa, which are endemic species in Italy, with G. hirsuta falling as a sister to this clade. However, G. grandis did not form any phylogenetic relationships with the remaining taxa. The ITS analyses provided taxonomic boundaries of taxa in Glechoma although the petal and sepal micromorphological characters provided weak evidences of the systematic value. As further studies, incorporating more DNA regions to the matrix including other additional morphological analysis will be significant to provide clearer taxonomic structure in Glechoma.
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