Phylogenetic and cladistic analyses of the enigmatic genera Bituminaria and Cullen (Fabaceae) in Turkey

Abstract

Three taxa of the genus Psoralea L. growing naturally in Turkey and the outgroup taxa belonging to the closest genera Vicia L., Cicer L., and Astragalus L. were subjected to molecular and quantitative morphological analyses in order to characterize their phylogenetic relationships. Both the taxonomical and the molecular characteristics of the tribes Psoraleeae (Bituminaria Heist. ex Fabr., Cullen Medik.), Vicieae (Vicia), Astragalae (Astragalus), and Cicereae (Cicer) were clearly revealed for the first time with the inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) method. The phylogenetic relationships were determined with 253 ISSR band scores and 125 quantitative morphological character measurements. The numerical and molecular data sets were analyzed with NTSYSpc and Minitab software. Based on these data, the current circumscription of the genus Psoralea was reevaluated and compared with outgroups in Turkey. Consequently, the closely related genera of Bituminaria and Cullen clearly occur in Turkey instead of the genus Psoralea.