分子系統樹によるスハマソウ属(Hepatica)の進化史の推定

Abstract

There are 18 species of Hepatica in the world, there are 6 species of Hepatica in Japan. In the present study, to characterize variation in the chloroplast gene of Hepatica from various locations, we examined nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast from matK gene to psbA gene. We performed PCR of chloroplast gene using 18 specimens of Hepatica and compared the result from around the world using a neighbor jointing tree. Molecular phylogenetic tree of Hepatica from around the world revealed that all species of Hepatica in Japan belonged to a different group from Hepatica in Europe, China and Korea. Molecular phylogenetic trees showed that that Hepatica in Japan had the closest relationship with Hepatica in America. All scientific names of Hepatica in Japan are treated as subspecies of H. nobilis in Europe (e.g. H. nobilis var. japonica f. variegata). In this study, the molecular phylogenetic tree suggests that 6 species of Hepatica in Japan are unlikely to be subspecies of H. nobilis in Europe.