The phylogenetic relationships among germplasm resources of wild ramie (Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud) in China based on trnL-F and its sequences

Ramie (boehmeria nivea l. gaud) is an important fiber crop in china,which also possesses many wild species in genus boehmeria jacq. however,the taxonomic position of these species has not been settled. to determine the evolutionary relationships among the members of the genus boehmeria,the combination of its and trnl-f sequences were used for molecular phylogenetic analyses of 31 ramie accessions (28 species and three varieties) including multiple materials collected in high-altitude regions that have not been previously reported (b. clidemioides var. diffusa,b. bicuspis and b. longispica). the its and trnl-f trees produced showed that boehmeria was classified into four separate clusters. the sect. duretia,which has a high evolutionary level,clustered with sects zoilingeriana and phyllostachys. the grouping pattern of clustering differed from traditional taxonomy and indicated possible interspecific hybridization among boehmeria. we found that b. malabarica wedd. var. leioclada of sect. boehmeria clustered into a clade with sect. tilocnide,providing solid support for the expansion of wild ramie core germplasm resources. the molecular results did not support the intraspecific geographic migration of boehmeria. this study,therefore,established relationships among wild species which will help in ramie crop improvement programs. the results will be important for the collection and conservation of germplasm resources of chinese wild ramie. © 2015,pakistan botanical society. all rights reserved.