A revised and updated classification for the families of the flowering plants is provided and the use of bracketing families that could be included optionally in broader circumscriptions with other related families are expanded.
A phylogenetic analysis of a combined data set for 560 angiosperms and seven outgroups based on three genes, 18S rDNA, rbcL, and atpB representing a total of 4733 bp is presented, resulting in the most highly resolved and strongly supported topology yet obtained for angiosPerms.
The 2-locus combination of rbcL+matK will provide a universal framework for the routine use of DNA sequence data to identify specimens and contribute toward the discovery of overlooked species of land plants.
A revised classification of Orchidaceae is presented including a list of all 736 currently recognized genera, and three new tribes are recognized within Epidendroideae, which has been much clarified by analyses of multiple plastid DNA regions and the low-copy nuclear gene Xdh.
This study demonstrates that Amboreella, Nymphaeales and Illiciales-Trimeniaceae-Austrobaileya represent the first stage of angiosperm evolution, with Amborella being sister to all other angiosperms, and shows that Gnetales are related to the conifers and are not sister to the angios perms, thus refuting the Anthophyte Hypothesis.
A supertree of angiosperm families from published phylogenetic studies shows that diversification rate is a labile attribute of lineages at all levels of the tree, reflecting the interactive effects of biological traits and the environment.
The results of parsimony analyses of DNA sequences of the plastid genes rbcL and atpB and the nuclear 18S rDNA for 560 species of angiosperms and seven non-flowering seed plants are reported and show a well-resolved and well-supported phylogenetic tree for the angios perms for use in comparative biology.
Two additional lineages are potentially appropriate to be elevated to the family level in the future: the genera Lophiocarpus and Corbichonia form a well-supported clade on the basis of molecular and chemical evidence, and Limeum appears to be separated from other Molluginaceae based on both molecular and ultrastructural data.
RbcL fails to provide strong support for the interrelationships of the subfamilies of the Orchidaceae, and the cladograms presented here should serve as a standard to which future morphological and molecular studies can be compared.