Phylogenetic relationships of conifers inferred from partial 28S rRNA gene sequences.

The conifers, which traditionally comprise seven families, are the largest and most diverse group of living gymnosperms. Efforts to systematize this diversity without a cladistic phylogenetic framework have often resulted in the segregation of certain genera and/or families from the conifers. In order to understand better the relationships between the families, we performed cladistic analyses using a new data set obtained from 28S rRNA gene sequences.