Evolution of ndhF in Dioscorea

Jason Williams and R. Geeta

State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY

Dioscorea is a genus of monocots that comprise the “true yams.” Stenophora is a well-supported section within this group. Our phylogenetic investigations reveal that some members of Stenophora possess a second copy of the chloroplast gene, ndhF. This second copy of ndhF is truncated, and is more closely related to other members of Dioscoreales and outgroup taxa. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that an ancient duplication may have been followed by losses within Dioscorea.