Annals of Botany 90: 209-217, 2002
© 2002 Annals of Botany Company
Nuclear DNA C-values in 30 Species Double the Familial Representation in Pteridophytes
1 Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, UK
* For correspondence. Fax 00 44 (0)20 8332 5310, e-mail i.leitch{at}rbgkew.org.uk Current address: Institute of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria
Received: 7 January 2002; Returned for revision: 6 March 2002; Accepted: 10 April 2002
Nuclear DNA C-values and genome size are important biodiversity characters with fundamental biological significance. Yet C-value data for pteridophytes, a diverse group of vascular plants with approx. 9000 extant species, remain scarce. A recent survey by Bennett and Leitch (2001, Annals of Botany 87: 335–345) found that C-values were reported for only 48 pteridophyte species. To improve phylogenetic representation in this group and to check previously reported estimates, C-values for 30 taxa in 17 families were measured using flow cytometry for all but one species. This technique proved generally applicable, but the ease with which C-value data were generated varied greatly between materials. Comparing the new data with those previously published revealed several large discrepancies. After discounting doubtful data, C-values for 62 pteridophyte species remained acceptable for analysis. The present work has increased the number of such species’ C-values by 93 %, and more than doubled the number of families represented (from 10 to 21). Analysis shows that pteridophyte C-values vary approx. 450-fold, from 0·16 pg in Selaginella kraussiana to 72·7 pg in Psilotum nudum var. gasa. Superimposing C-value data onto a robust phylogeny of pteridophytes suggests some possible trends in C-value evolution and highlights areas for future work.
Key words: DNA amounts, evolution of C-values, Equisetum, ferns, flow cytometry, genome size, Pteridophyte phylogeny, vascular plants.
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