Advances in Infrageneric Phylogenetics of Silene in Iran

Background and aim: silene with currently 870 recognized species is one of the largest plant genera. the genus is mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to arctic regions. the flora of iran is rich in silene species. melzheimer (1988) recognized 98 species in 21 sections. several previously published phylogenetic studies with different geographic or taxonomic focus has revealed considerable disagreement to this classification. we review these and make a phylogenetic analysis focused on the iranian species in order to present a novel infrageneric taxonomy for silene in iran.methods: we constructed a species tree phylogeny based on two putatively unlinked loci (nrdna its and cpdna rps16) as a framework for the taxonomic classification. the analyses were performed with stacey v.1.2.5 as implemented in beast v.2.5.1.results: the phylogeny inferred from the species tree disagree considerably with melzheimer’s in flora iranica. for example, the perennial species s. pungens, s. vulgaris and s. odontopetala, classified together in sect. inflatae by melzheimer, are scattered among different clades. the monotypic sections ampullatae and schaftae are nested in an expanded sect. auriculatae. the gained phylogenies do not support distinctness of sects. auriculatae and spergulifoliae as suggested in traditional taxonomies. silene sect. lasiostemones is included in sect. sclerocalycinae. the annual species s. apetala, s. gallica, s. villosa, s. arabica and s. diversifolia which were traditionally classified in sects. lasiocalycinae, bipartitae and atocion, respectively, by melzheimer form a monophyletic clade that can be recognized as sect. silene s.l. silene viscosa, the only species of sect. chloranthae, is included in sect. physolychnis. silene dichotoma, s. odontopetala and s. vulgaris are transferred to sects. dichotomae, odontopetalae and behenantha, respectively. silene cyri and s. italica, as representatives of sects. otites and paniculatae, are included in sect. siphonomorpha s.l. silene nizvana formerly placed in sect. auriculatae, is also nested within sect. siphonomorpha s.l.conclusion: three subgenera and 16 sections can according to strong phylogenetic evidence be recognized for flora of iran. compared to melzheimer’s treatment, the sects. auriculatae, behenantha, sclerocalycinae, physolychnis and siphonomorpha are circumscribed widely here. the number of recognized species are increased to 118 species but this number will change since many species complexes need further investigations.