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Phylogenetic relationships among species of Pseudostellaria and its position in Caryophyllaceae

Yongsung Kim, Jongsun Park, Seon-Hee Kim, and Seung-Chul Kim
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Pseudostellaria Pax (Caryophyllaceae) is a small genus with about 25 species and is distributed in temperate regions, primarily extending from Central to North East Asia, Southeastern Europe, and Western North America. In this study, we evaluated phylogenetic position of Pseudostellaria including 12 species collected from Korea, USA, and Europe using ITS and rps16 makers. In both trees, Odontostemma clade containing Pseudostellaria genus is monophyly except Pseudostellaria oxyphylla isolated in USA, positioned at the most basal clade in tribe Alsineae. P. oxyphylla has five stamen; while other members in Odontostemma clade have 10. Due to low resolution among the genus in Odontostemma clade in ITS tree, and Solitaria genus nested in Pseudostellaria clade in rps16 tree, Pseudostellaria genus is paraphyletic. Three Pseudostellaria species distributed in USA and Europe of which roots are not fully developed were in basal position of Pseudostellaria clade; while species in subseries Verticillatae were derived in both trees. We will add more samples from Japan and China to clarify phylogenetic relationship of Psuetostellaria within Odontostemma clade and the tribe Alsineae.