Molecular studies about two rare species of the genus Tillandsia L. (T. califanii Rauh and T. tomasellii De Luca, Sabato et Balduzzi)

This study is a contribution to the phylogenetic positions of two peculiar species of the genus Tillandsia: T. califanii and T. tomasellii. These species are endemic to Mexico (Puebla and Oaxaca State) and very rare ( especially for T. tomasellii). Relatively little has been published on these species because of the difficulty in sampling them. The available data for T. califanii are concerned with taxonomical characterisation and ecology. There are no studies published on T. tomasellii, except one about species classification. The phylogenetic relationships between these two Tillandsia species were performed using the nucleotide sequences from six regions of the chloroplast genome [rps16 intron, trnL(UAA) intron, trnL(UAA)-trnF(GAA) intergenic spacer, atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer, rbcL gene with a part of rbcL-accD intergenic spacer, and partial matK gene with a part of the flanking trnK(UUU) intron], which have already been employed in an earlier phylogenetic study on Tillandsioideae, and compared them with Tillandsioideae sequences in GenBank and other Tillandsia species sequenced. According to the molecular results, T. califanii is very close to T. achyrostachys, but differs from it by habitat, size, and morphology; and the clade of T. tomasellii is not completely resolved due to a collapse with T. paucifolia and T. klausii.