Comparative sequencing of the chloroplast matK coding and non-coding regions was used to examine relationship among the species of Amaranthaceae with emphasis on the West African species and other closely related family such as Chenopodiaceae, Portulacaceae and Caryophyllaceae. | Research Article Turk J Bot 33 (2009) 153-161 © TÜBİTAK doi: Phylogenetic Analyses of Amaranthaceae Based on matK DNA Sequence Data with Emphasis on West African Species Oluwatoyin T. OGUNDIPE1,*, Mark CHASE2 1 Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, NIGERIA 2 Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, UK Received: Accepted: Abstract: Comparative sequencing of the chloroplast matK coding and non-coding regions was used to examine relationship among the species of Amaranthaceae with emphasis on the West African species and other closely related family such as Chenopodiaceae, Portulacaceae, and Caryophyllaceae. Phylogenetic analysis of the matK sequences alone and in combination using maximum parsimony methods produced monophyletic lineage of Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae. Our results indicated that a polyphyletic Celosieae as sister to an Amaranthus-Chemissoa lineage. Subfamily Amaranthoideae is paraphyletic to the core Gomphrenoids. This study also shows that the polyphyly of Amarantheae is apparent and so is the polyphyly of Amaranthinae. Key Words: Amaranthaceae, matK, Phylogenetic analyses Introduction Amaranthaceae, commonly called the Amaranth family, contains about 65 genera and 900 species. They are widespread and cosmopolitan in distribution but most abundant in tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate regions, evidently absent from alpine and arctic regions. Centres of diversity for Amaranthaceae are south-western North America, Central America, South America, and Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Most species occur in tropical Africa and North America (Townsend, 1993). Some species are considered weeds, but a number of others are popular garden ornamental plants, especially species of Alternanthera Forssk., Amaranthus L., and Celosia L. Amaranths are probably among the most promising unexploited food and fodder crops (Becker et. al., 1981: Dey
