Molecular evolution and phylogenetic implications of internal transcribed spacer sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA in the Phaseolus-Vigna complex.

Molecular phylogeny based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences was studied to resolve the taxonomic contradiction in Vigna and its relation to Phaseolus. The ITS region of the 18S-26S nuclear ribosomal DNA repeat was sequenced for 29 Vigna species, selected from five of the nine subgenera, and 9 species of Phaseolus. The length of ITS-1 ranged from 187 to 243 bp and 217 to 290 bp, and that of ITS-2 from 187 to 219 bp and 225 to 243 bp, within Vigna and Phaseolus species, respectively. Phylogenies derived from ITS sequences based on maximum-parsimony and neighbor-joining methods gave trees essentially of similar topology. The ITS phylogeny was generally congruent with recent classifications based largely on morphological, biochemical, cytogenetical, and palynological features, except that subgenus Plectotropis of Neotropical origin was revealed to be closely related to subgenus Vigna instead of forming a link between African (subgenus Vigna) and Asiatic (subgenus Ceratotropis) vignas, and subgenus Sigmoidotropis, featuring morphological characters of both Vigna and Phaseolus, was placed as the sister group to the Phaseolus taxa. The ITS sequences were shown to be useful for identifying wild progenitors of V. mungo, V. radiata, V. umbellata, and V. unguiculata and for clarifying taxonomy-related problems in many previously controversial cases. This study also affirms that V. umbellata and V. angularis are the diploid progenitors of the only tetraploid species (V. glabrescens) known in the genus.