Biodiv Sci

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Relationship of Microsorium membranaceum var. carinatum and Microsorium membranaceum var. membranaceum based on the sequence analysis of chloroplast rbcL,rps4,trnL-trnF and rps4-trnS

Chunxiang Li1*, Shugang Lu2   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008
    2 Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091
  • Received:2004-08-21 Revised:2005-01-20 Online:2005-03-20 Published:2005-03-20
  • Contact: Chunxiang Li

Abstract:

Microsorium membranaceum var. carinatum, a newly published variety, can be distinguished easily from the original variety M. membranaceum var. membranaceum by the stipe morphology. The cross section of stipes is triangular in the former, but semicircular in the latter. Here phylogenetic relationship of the two varieties was investigated based on the sequence analysis of chloroplast rbcL,rps4,trnL-trnF, and rps4-trnS intergenic spacers. Furthermore, the published relevant sequences from other ferns were also analyzed for the comparison of genetic distance. As a result, no sequence difference in the studied four cpDNA regions was found between M. membranaceum var. carinatum and M. membranaceum var. membranaceum, but some difference in the corresponding DNA fragments is present among other fern varieties. Hence, the status of Microsorium membranaceum var. carinatum as a distinct variety is not supported by the DNA analysis.