We used next-generation sequencing to characterize the genomes of nine species of Orobanchaceae of known phylogenetic relationships, different life forms, and including a polyploid species. The study species are the autotrophic, nonparasitic Lindenbergia philippensis, the hemiparasitic Schwalbea americana, and seven nonphotosynthetic parasitic species of Orobanche (Orobanche crenata, Orobanche ...

DISPERSAL INTO NEWLY EMERGING ENVIRONMENTS CAN INCREASE SPECIES DIVERSIFICATION RATE Accelerated rates of net diversifi cation (speciation minus extinction) have oft en been associated with the appearance of a novel morphological character, or key innovation, that allows a group of organisms to use a niche in a new way. Recently, an alternative mechanism, dispersifi cation (dispersal and divers...

Pedicularis section Cyathophora is a monophyletic group characterized by perfoliate leaf and/or bract bases at each node. This section comprises four series, corresponding to four general corolla types of Pedicularis, i.e. toothless, toothed, beaked and long-tubed corollas. In this study, we aim to reconstruct a comprehensive phylogeny of section Cyathophora, and compare phylogenetic incongruen...

In a striking contrast, matK is one of the most rapidly evolving plastid genes and also one of the few plastid genes to be retained in all nonphotosynthetic plants examined to date. DNA sequences of this region were obtained from photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic plants of Orobanchaceae and their relatives. The resulting plastid DNA phylogeny was congruent with that recently obtained from an...