Homoplasy everywhere, coming fron the andes:phylogenetic relationships and historical Biogeography of solanum Brevantherum (Seithe) Solanaceae

Abstract

Andean uplift played a determinant role in neotropical plant diversification. Patterns of divergence in plants have long been studied in order to understand the causes and processes involved in the accumulation of species. However, the study of species distribution through geological times remains complex. We used Solanum sect. Brevantherum (Solanaceae) as a model here, due to its broad geographic distribution across the Neotropics. We generated sequences from two nuclear and one plastid marker (ITS, waxy, trnT-F) to infer phylogenetic relationships under Bayesian and Maximum likelihood approaches. We estimated the age of main splits and the ancestral areas of the main lineages. Finally, we simulated the main processes driving the current distribution of the group using biogeographic stochastic mapping and inferred ancestral character states of relevant morphological characters. Results show the non-monophyly of the sect. Brevantherum as previously recognized and high level of homoplasy in morphological characters traditionally used to circumscribe the section. Divergence time analyses suggest that the two main clades found in sect. Brevantherum