Hipóteses filogenéticas de espécies sul americanas do gênero Lippia Spp. (Verbenacea) com base em sequências nucleotídicas

Abstract

Lippia is one of the most important genus of the Verbenaceae family. It is mainly concentrated in Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Argentina with few endemic species in Africa. The present study was done in order to construct a phylogenetic hypothesis for 39 species of the genus Lippia from Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay based on molecular data of regions ITS, Waxy, TrnL-F and rps16-trnQ. The sequences were amplified and purified for subsequent sequencing. The phylogenetic analyses were done using the Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference. It was possible to show for the first time, phylogenetic aspects of the genus Lippia based on molecular data. In general, the phylogenetic trees based on different gene regions revealed important points such as the monophyly of Goniostachyum section. Another important point involves the lack of resolution of the sections Dipterocalix, Rhodolippia and mainly Zapania which is the most diverse among them. Although this work has shown new aspects about the phylogenetic organization of sections and species of the genus Lippia, the speciation process of the genus remains an open question. To resolve this problem, additional studies using phylogeographic and population genetics approaches, based on a phylogenetic analysis with greater numbers of genes and mainly involving a great number of species should be necessary.