Origin and evolution of the genus Piper in Peninsular India

Publication date: Available online 25 May 2019Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionAuthor(s): Sandeep Sen, Selvadurai Dayanandan, Thomson Davis, Rengaian Ganesan, M.R. Jagadish, P.J. Mathew, Gudasalamani RavikanthAbstractThe evolution of Peninsular Indian biodiversity has been a fascinating topic of research due to historical connections of this region to the ancient Gondwanaland. We investigated the phylogeny and historical biogeography of nearly all extant species of the genus Piper reported from the region to assess the biogeographical origins and test mechanisms of lineage diversification (dispersal, vicariance and in situ radiation) of this highly diverse genus of angiosperms commonly found in the understory of evergreen forests. The phylogeny of 21 species of Piper reported from Peninsular India was reconstructed for the first time, which included three new putative species from the Western Ghats. We used BEAST for the divergence time estimations (using three constraints), and ancestral range estimations were performed with the dated phylogenetic tree using BIOGEOBEARS. Divergence dating analysis revealed that the genus Piper originated during lower Cretaceous around 110Ma [95% highest posterior density (HPD): 116-105 Ma] and colonized Peninsular India five times independently, from Southeast Asia starting from the Oligocene. The two major dispersals into India occurred during the periods of 27.3Ma (95% HPD: 35.8 - 19.9.) and 15.5Ma (95% HPD: 24.9 - 7.11). This ...
Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research