Out of Africa: Miocene dispersal, vicariance, and extinction within Hyacinthaceae subfamily Urgineoideae.

Disjunct distribution patterns in plant lineages are usually explained according to three hypotheses: vicariance, geodispersal, and long-distance dispersal. The role of these hypotheses is tested in Urgineoideae (Hyacinthaceae), a subfamily disjunctly distributed in Africa, Madagascar, India, and the Mediterranean region. The potential ancestral range, dispersal routes, and factors responsible for the current distribution in Urgineoideae are investigated using divergence time estimations.

Inferences of biogeographical histories within subfamily Hyacinthoideae using S-DIVA and Bayesian binary MCMC analysis implemented in RASP (Reconstruct Ancestral State in Phylogenies).

Background And Aims: Subfamily Hyacinthoideae (Hyacinthaceae) comprises more than 400 species. Members are distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, India, eastern Asia, the Mediterranean region and Eurasia. Hyacinthoideae, like many other plant lineages, show disjunct distribution patterns.

A preliminary phylogeny of the 'didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae' based on three molecular data sets: Incongruence with available tribal classifications.

The 'didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae' (traditional subfam. Cyrtandroideae excluding Epithemateae) are the largest group of Old World Gesneriaceae, comprising 85 genera and 1800 species. We attempt to resolve their hitherto poorly understood generic relationships using three molecular markers on 145 species, of which 128 belong to didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae.

Phylogeny and geographical differentiation of zucchini yellow mosaic virus isolates (Potyviridae) based on molecular analysis of the coat protein and part of the cytoplasmic inclusion protein genes.

DNA sequences for the coat protein (CP) and part of the cytoplasmic inclusion (CI) protein genes after reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were reported for the first time for isolates of zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) from Austria, Germany, Italy and Slovenia. Comparison of the DNA sequences of 30 isolates from different geographical regions worldwide revealed highest similarities of the Austrian isolates to those from Slovenia and Hungary. Isolates from Germany and Italy were only distantly related and clustered with isolates from other parts of the world.