A pre-Miocene Irano-Turanian cradle: Origin and diversification of the species-rich monocot genus (Liliaceae).

The Irano-Turanian (IT) floristic region is considered an important center of origin for many taxa. However, there is a lack of studies dealing with typical IT genera that also occur in neighboring areas. The species-rich monocot genus Salisb.

Studies of life history of Gagea graeca (Liliaceae) based on morphological and molecular methods.

Background: We studied the life history of Gagea graeca (L.) A. Terracc.

Extensive 5.8S nrDNA polymorphism in Mammillaria (Cactaceae) with special reference to the identification of pseudogenic internal transcribed spacer regions.

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, ITS2) represents the most widely applied nuclear marker in eukaryotic phylogenetics. Although this region has been assumed to evolve in concert, the number of investigations revealing high degrees of intra-individual polymorphism connected with the presence of pseudogenes has risen.

Systematics of Gagea and Lloydia (Liliaceae) and infrageneric classification of Gagea based on molecular and morphological data.

Our study represents the first phylogenetic analyses of the genus Gagea Salisb. (Liliaceae), including 58 species of Gagea and 6 species of the closely related genus Lloydia Salisb. ex Rchb.

Non-concerted ITS evolution in Mammillaria (Cactaceae).

Molecular studies of 21 species of the large Cactaceae genus Mammillaria representing a variety of intrageneric taxonomic levels revealed a high degree of intra-individual polymorphism of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, ITS2). Only a few of these ITS copies belong to apparently functional genes, whereas most are probably non-functional (pseudogenes).