AUTHOR=Dong Zhanghong , Qu Shaohong , Landrein Sven , Yu Wen-Bin , Xin Jing , Zhao Wenzhi , Song Yu , Tan Yunhong , Xin Peiyao 

TITLE=Increasing Taxa Sampling Provides New Insights on the Phylogenetic Relationship Between Eriobotrya and Rhaphiolepis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.831206

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2022.831206

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Eriobotrya</italic> (Rosaceae) is an economically important genus with around 30 species. It is widely distributed in tropical and warm temperate regions of Asia, with most of its species in China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. However, <italic>Eriobotrya</italic> is often confused with the smaller genus <italic>Rhaphiolepis</italic>, and the phylogenetic relationships between the two genera are controversial. Here we present phylogenetic analyses of 38 newly generated <italic>Eriobotrya</italic> and <italic>Rhaphiolepis</italic> nrDNA together with 16 sequences of nrDNA and 28 sequences of ITS obtained from GenBank, representing 28 species of <italic>Eriobotrya</italic> and 12 species of <italic>Rhaphiolepis</italic>, in order to reconstruct highly supported relationships for the two genera. Contrary to previous research based on limited sampling, our results highlight the monophyly of <italic>Eriobotrya</italic> as well as <italic>Rhaphiolepis</italic>. The topology recovered here is consistent with key morphological synapomorphies such as the persistent sepals in <italic>Eriobotrya</italic>. Our findings show that increased sampling of taxa can provide a more robust phylogeny through reducing phylogenetic error and increasing overall phylogenetic accuracy.</p>