Reconstructing ancestral chromosome numbers and inflorescence features in Eleusininae (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Cynodonteae)

Abstract

The chromosome number in Poaceae has changed widely over 77 Myr of evolution and polyploidization. Chromosome number changes can suggest a high rate of diversification and evolutionary novelties, and such changes can contribute to speciation. Despite this, chromosome numbers alone do not allow the evolutionary history of a group to be traced. Combined phylogenetic and karyological analyses can clarify the evolutionary history of taxa and allow taxonomic relationships and hierarchical levels to be inferred. The subtribe Eleusininae is the largest of the subfamily Chloridoideae. This study aims to reconstruct their chromosome number evolution, for which ChromEvol 2.0 software was used. Haploid chromosome numbers of Eleusininae were retrieved from the literature, and a consensus phylogenetic tree of Eleusininae was reconstructed. It was possible to infer 41 events of chromosome rearrangements along the evolutionary history of Eleusininae, according to the probabilistic model used. Chromosome number evolution in Eleusininae was mainly influenced by polyploidy events. The ancestral basic chromosome number for Eleusininae was p = 6, but the most recent common ancestor showed p(2) = 10. In addition, some derived basic chromosome numbers, such as x = 9, arose through dysploidy, whereas x = 20 was generated via polyploidy.