Planta Med 2010; 76 - L_2
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264196

Plant molecular systematics: prospects for identifying species and for analysing bioactive compound evolution

T Borsch 1
  • 1Freie Universität Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Direktor der Zentraleinrichtung, Königin-Luise-Straße 6–8, 14195 Berlin, Germany

DNA-based approaches to unravel plant evolutionary relationships, to gain insights into patterns and processes of speciation, and to unravel the diversity of genotypes within species have revolutionized plant biology. Phylogenetic hypotheses now include all major lineages of flowering plants and the inclusion of more and more genera and species into phylogenetic trees is on their way. This offers a unique opportunity to reconstruct the evolution of secondary compounds and their biosynthetic pathways (macroevolution). For example, in the genus Hypericum (St. John's Wort) the evolution of bioactive compounds such as hypericin and hyperforin correlates with certain phylogenetic lineages. If there is an up to date taxonomic information source that connects genetic and phenotypic data for organisms to the respective taxon names, sequence data can be used to identify even small fragments of plant materials. Although this is a promising application, it should be noted that the required comprehensive monographic treatments so far exist for only a small fraction of flowering plant genera.