PJB-2025-249
PHYLOGENETIC CLASSIFICATION OF SOME HYPERICUM L. TAXA FROM TURKEY, INFERRED FROM NRDNA ITS AND CPDNA TRNL 3ˈ‒TRNF SEQUENCES
Gülden Koçak
Abstract
This study revealed the phylogenetic relationships within 26 Hypericum taxa, a genus well represented in the Turkish flora, utilizing nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL 3ˈ‒trnF regions. Among the studied species, seven of them are endemic to Turkey, including H. confertum subsp. stenobotrys, H. ekerii, H. elongatum var. antasiaticum, H. pseudolaeve, H. scabroides, H. thymbrifolium, and H. uniglandulosum. Molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods. The ITS dataset resolved three distinct clades. Clade I entirely comprised species from Hypericum sect. Hirtella and sect. Taeniocarpium. Clade II encompassed taxa from sect. Drosocarpium, sect. Hypericum, and sect. Crossophyllum. Clade III was represented by H. hircinum (sect. Androsaemum). The trnL-3ˈ trnF phylogenetic tree largely aligns with the ITS phylogeny, exhibiting similar major clades. However, H. hircinum did not form a distinct clade as observed in the ITS tree, and discrepancies were also noted at lower taxonomic levels. A strongly monophyletic and recently diverged lineage was affirmed for H. lysimachioides var. spathulatum and H. lysimachioides var. lysimachioides, and no molecular differentiation was observed between these two varieties. Significantly, H. ekerii, an endemic and critically endangered species, was included for the first time in a molecular phylogenetic study, clustering within Clade I.
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