Molecular phylogenetic studies were conducted to evaluate interspecific relationships in 40 populations of Viola including 35 Korean taxa, four Japanese populations and one outgroup using nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences. The phylogenetic analyses were...
Molecular phylogenetic studies were conducted to evaluate interspecific relationships in 40 populations of Viola including 35 Korean taxa, four Japanese populations and one outgroup using nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences. The phylogenetic analyses were conducted using parsimony and neighbor-joining methods. Subsection Trigonocarpae of section Nomimium appeared as the most basal clade within the Korean Viola. Section Dischidium and Chamaemelanium was monophyletic(bootstrap 100%) and placed between subsect. Trigonocarpae and three other subsections of sect. Nomimium. Sect. Nomimium was paraphyletic. Although each subsectional grouping was in accordance with previous infrageneric classification based on morphological characters, yet discordance remained at the series level. Two evolutionary trends observed in the ITS tree were as follows. First, subsect. Trigonocarpae(x=10) was derived from the outgroup(x=6); Second, subsects. Bilobatae and Vaginatae(x=10 or 12), and subsect. Patellares(x=12) of sect. Nomimium were originated from sects. Dischidium and Chamaemelanium(x=6). Viola albida complex including three very closely related taxa was recognized as independent group within subsect. Patellares in parsimony tree. This result suggested that they should be treated as a taxa in series Pinnatae. Phylogenetic position of a putative hybrid species, Viola woosanensis was not supported with previous morphological hypothesis.