Increasing Taxa Sampling Provides New Insights on the Phylogenetic Relationship Between Eriobotrya and Rhaphiolepis

Abstract

<i>Eriobotrya</i> (Rosaceae) is an economically important genus with around 30 species. It is widely distributed in tropical and warm temperate regions of Asia, with most of its species in China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. However, <i>Eriobotrya</i> is often confused with the smaller genus <i>Rhaphiolepis</i>, and the phylogenetic relationships between the two genera are controversial. Here we present phylogenetic analyses of 38 newly generated <i>Eriobotrya</i> and <i>Rhaphiolepis</i> nrDNA together with 16 sequences of nrDNA and 28 sequences of ITS obtained from GenBank, representing 28 species of <i>Eriobotrya</i> and 12 species of <i>Rhaphiolepis</i>, in order to reconstruct highly supported relationships for the two genera. Contrary to previous research based on limited sampling, our results highlight the monophyly of <i>Eriobotrya</i> as well as <i>Rhaphiolepis</i>. The topology recovered here is consistent with key morphological synapomorphies such as the persistent sepals in <i>Eriobotrya</i>. Our findings show that increased sampling of taxa can provide a more robust phylogeny through reducing phylogenetic error and increasing overall phylogenetic accuracy.