Molecular Phylogeny Of Chinese Geocalycaceae

The Geocalycaceae, consisting of23genera and about300species in the world, is a large family in Jungermanniales (Bryophyta:Hepaticae), which includes seven genera and38species and widely distributesd in the south and northeast of China. Geocalycaceae have a great number of species and a great variation in plant characteristics, with it often constitute communities with other mosses, what’s more, the difference on morphological character between each other are more obvious, all the reason mentioned above will bring a lot of trouble for specimen collection and species identification. Over the years, scholars around the world have much controversyon on the taxonomic relationships of this family by study using morphological characteristics, especially on the systematic position of the genera and the certain species. With the development of DNA sequencing, molecular systematics have infiltrate through more and more research field of bryophyte in recent years. However, molecular researches on this family haven’t been reported interiorly, and nearly focus on the most chaotic subfamily of Lophocopeodieae upon the entire world, on the contrary, the rest are scattered. There is still without a complete molecular phylogeny on this family till now.245specimen of four genera and28species were used to build evolutionary trees by genes of ITS, rdcL, trnL-F and nad5with maximum likelihood method and maximum parsimony method, in order to anaylse the relationship of each species on evolutionary development, provide new molecular evidence for classic taxonomy of bryophytes, and establish a new evolution system of Chinese Geocalycaceae. The main conclusions of this study as follows:1. Harpanthus Nees should be moved out of s.1. Geocalycaceae, however, whether it should be placed in Plectocoleaceae C. Gao, Y. H. Wu&W. Li as Gao C.&Wu Y. H.(2010) suggested need to be proved with molecular data.2. It should be proved by increasing the samples population and adding morphological and molecular data that whether Leptoscyphus Mitt. should be placed in the Lophocoleaceae (Jorg.) v. Bergh.(1956) emend. C., Y. H. Gao Wu&W. Li is ambiguous.3. Saccogynidium Grolle, Saccogyna Dumort. and Geocalyx Nees should be the three genera kept in Geocalycaceae Klinggr. emend. C. Gao&Y. H. Wu as Gao C.&WuY. H.(2010) suggested.4. Heleroscyphus Schiffn. should be devided into two subgenera as Srivastava&Srivastava.(2002) and He-Nygren et al.(2003) suggested. At the same time, Heleroscyphus argutus, H. zollingeri, H. tridentatus, and H. planus should be one specie based on morphological and molecular data.5. The species of Chiloscyphus which are similar in characteristics, for example, Chiloscyphus polyanthus, C. latifolius, C. cuspidatus. C. minor, Cprofundus, and so on, should be constituted a subgenus, and the taxonomic revision of other species of the genus are ambiguous.