Phylogeny of Poaceae Based on matK Gene Sequences

Phylogenetic reconstruction in the Poaceae began early in this century with proposed evolutionary hypotheses based on assessment of existing knowledge of grasses (e.g., Bew, 1929; Hubbard 1948; Prat, 1960; Stebbins, 1956, 1982; Clayton, 1981; Tsvelev, 1983). Imperical approaches to phylogenetic reconstruction of the Poaceae followed those initial hypotheses, starting with cladistic analyses of morphological and anatomical characters (Kellogg and Campbell, 1987; Baum, 1987; Kellogg and Watson, 1993). More recently, molecular information has provided the basis for phylogenetic hypotheses in grasses at the subfamily and tribe levels (Table 5.1). These molecular studies were based on information from chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) restriction sites and DNA sequencing of the rbcL, ndhF, rps4, 18S and 26S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), phytochrome genes, and the ITS region (Hamby and Zimmer, 1988; Doebley et al., 1990; Davis and Soreng, 1993; Cummings, King, and Kellogg, 1994; Hsiao et al., 1994; Nadot, Bajon, and Lejeune, 1994; Barker, Linder, and Harley, 1995; Clark, Zhang, and Wendel, 1995; Duvall and Morton, 1996; Liang and Hilu, 1996; Mathews and Sharrock, 1996).