Phylogenetic positions of Glaucophyta, green plants (Archaeplastida) and Haptophyta (Chromalveolata) as deduced from slowly evolving nuclear genes

• Published in: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 872 - 880
• Main Authors: Nozaki, Hisayoshi, Maruyama, Shinichiro, Matsuzaki, Motomichi, Nakada, Takashi, Kato, Syou, Misawa, Kazuharu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.2009
• Subjects: Alveolata - classification; Alveolata - genetics; Archaeplastida; Bayes Theorem; Cell Nucleus - genetics; Chromalveolata; Eukaryote evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Glaucophyta; Green plants; Haptophyta; Likelihood Functions; Long branch attraction; Nuclear genes; Phylogeny; Plants - classification; Plants - genetics; Primary photosynthetic eukaryotes; Rhodophyta - classification; Rhodophyta - genetics; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Short branch; “Super” Plant Kingdom; Eukaryote evolution; Nuclear genes; Glaucophyta; Primary photosynthetic eukaryotes; Archaeplastida; Long branch attraction; Short branch; Green plants; Chromalveolata; Phylogeny; Haptophyta; “Super” Plant Kingdom
• ISSN: 1055-7903; 1095-9513
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.08.015

The phylogenetic positions of the primary photosynthetic eukaryotes, or Archaeplastida (green plants, red algae, and glaucophytes) and the secondary photosynthetic chromalveolates, Haptophyta, vary depending on the data matrices used in the previous nuclear multigene phylogenetic studies. Here, we deduced the phylogeny of three groups of Archaeplastida and Haptophyta on the basis of sequences of the multiple slowly evolving nuclear genes and reduced the gaps or missing data, especially in glaucophyte operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The present multigene phylogenetic analyses resolved that Haptophyta and two other groups of Chromalveolata, stramenopiles and Alveolata, form a monophyletic group that is sister to the green plants and that the glaucophytes and red algae are basal to the clade composed of green plants and Chromalveolata. The bootstrap values supporting these phylogenetic relationships increased with the exclusion of long-branched OTUs. The close relationship between green plants and Chromalveolata is further supported by the common replacement in two plastid-targeted genes.