MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE GENUS PISTACIA

Relationships among Pistacia species have been based on leaf and seed morphology as well as geographical distribution.
Molecular genetic tools (PCR amplification followed by restriction analysis of a 3.2 kilobase region of variable chloroplast DNA, and RFLP analysis of the Pistacia cpDNA with tobacco chloroplast DNA probes) provided a new set of variables for study of the phylogenetic relationships of 10 Pistacia species.
Both parsimony and cluster analyses were used to divide the genus into two major groups. P. vera was determined to be the most ancient of the 10 species studied. P. integerrima and P. chinensis were shown to be distinct species, whereas the pairs of species P. vera:P. khinjuk and P. mexicana:P. texana could not be separated by this analysis.
An evolutionary trend from large to small nuts and leaves with few, large leaflets to many, small leaflets was supported.
The genus Pistacia was shown to have a low chloroplast DNA mutation rate; 0.05–0.16 times that expected of annual plants.

II International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds

Dan E. Parfitt, Maria L. Badenes

pistachio, taxonomy, evolution, chloroplast, DNA, PCR, RFLP

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.470.20