Assessment of relationships between Iranian Fritillaria (Liliaceae) Species Using Chloroplast trnh-psba Sequences and Morphological Characters

The genus Fritillaria comprises of 165 taxa of medicinal, ornamental and horticultural importance. Evolutionary relationships in this genus is an interesting research area, attracting many researchers. In this study, phylogenetic relationships among 18 native to endemic species in Iran belonging to four subgenera Petilium, Theresia, Rhinopetalum and Fritillaria, are assessed using chloroplast trnH-psbA IGS sequences. Fifteen variable morphological characters are studied, and used in constructing a numerical classification. Results of molecular data showed that subgenus Fritillaria in Iran was a polyphyletic group. Members of the section Olostyleae appeared as paraphyletic. Species nonmonophyly was revisited for Fritillaria crassifolia. Both morphological and molecular data show that Fritillaria zagrica and Fritillaria pinardii were closely related taxa, although they may be retain as separate species based on some morphological differences. Multivariate analysis of morphological data arranged the species in consistent groups as with the phylogenetic tree based on sequence data. Results of this study revealed feasibility of the trnHpsbA sequences for contribution in phylogenetic reconstruction in the genus Fritillaria.