Macromitrium Brid. (Bryophyta, Orthotrichaceae) in Brazil: a molecular approach

• Published in: Revista brasileira de botânica Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 925 - 946
• Main Authors: Valente, Daiane Valente, Peralta, Denilson Fernandes, Stech, Michael, Câmara, Paulo Eduardo Aguiar Saraiva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amplification; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Botany; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Gene sequencing; Life Sciences; Macromitrium; New genera; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Species; Systematics & Phylogeny - Original Article; Brazil; Molecular markers; Phylogeny; Macromitrioideae; Moss; DNA barcoding
• ISSN: 1806-9959; 0100-8404; 1806-9959
• DOI: 10.1007/s40415-023-00935-3

The Brazilian species of Macromitrium Brid. presents many taxonomic and systematic problems, mainly because the morphological characters used for species identification were not well established in the past, and many species have no phylogenetic position established yet. In this paper, we aim (i) to test the monophyly of Macromitrium based on the phylogenetic analysis of Brazilian species using four markers from different genomic compartments ( trn L-F, rps 4, nad 5 and 26S), (ii) if not a monophyletic group, to delimit which Brazilian species belong to true Macromitrium and, (iii) to test the potential of trn G-R , trn L-F, and ITS markers to resolve the phylogenetic relationships and species delimitations within Macromitrium . Our data demonstrate that Macromitrium is not monophyletic, but split into three different groups: MG1 (true Macromitrium ), MG2 (new genus Pseudomacromitrium ), and MG3 (the monospecific new genus Aureomacromitrium ). Our barcoding data suggest that the best candidate marker for DNA barcoding was trn G-R due to its easy amplification and ability to discriminate all the analyzed species. The nuclear marker ITS was easy to amplify and more variable than the plastid markers, but alignment difficulties and more frequent fungal contaminations are potential drawbacks. Trn L-F had a low discrimination potential. Our results provide important data on the phylogeny of the Macromitrioideae, serving as a basis for the expansion of the phylogenetic studies for the other Macromitrium species that occur in the world, as well as providing a new tool to solve the current problems of identification of Brazilian species.