Floral Organogenesis And Molecular Phylogeny Of Menispermeae (Menispermaceae)

Research on the evolution of morphological characters of angiosperms is one of the important aspects of systematic and evolutionary botany, in which the reproductive organs of plants have been particularly focused on because they reflect the richest information in taxonomy, systematics and evolution. In this thesis, both molecular phylogeny and floral organogenesis of Mensipermeae (Menispermaceae) have been investigated in order to clarify the intergeneric relationships. Based on an unambiguous phylogenetic ground, the most possible evolutionary tendencies of floral characters were further interpreted.Phylogenetic analyses inferred from rDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F sequences demonstrated that: 1). Two most parsimonious trees established from the two data sets are consistent with each other, supporting that Mensipermeae is a monophyletic group, and Diploclisia, Stephania and Cocculus are monophyletic as well; 2). The clade consisting of Sinomenium and Menispermum is at the basal of the trees, suggesting that groups with numerous/free floral parts are probably early-derived; while the clade of Cissampelos, Cyclea and Stephania is nested in the innermost, implying that groups with few/connate floral parts probably later-derived; 3). Stephania is formed into two subclades generally equivalent to the two types constructed based on...