Phylogenetic relationship of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) and several wild relatives (Garcinia spp.) revealed by ITS sequence data

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationships among 17 Garcinia species including G. mangostana (mangosteen) were analyzed by comparing sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). Both parsimonious and neighbor joining (NJ) analyses revealed that G. mangostana is closely related to G. malaccensis believed to be a progenitor of mangosteen. Another suspected progenitor of mangosteen, G. hombroniana, was more distant from G. mangostana than G. malaccensis phylogenetically. Garcinia hombroniana formed a cluster with G. rostrata, G, speciosa and G. sizygiifolia, and this cluster was connected with a cluster of G. mangostana and G. malaccensis. The ITS sequence analysis showed that G. atroviridis, G. cowa, G. dulcis, G. malaccensis, G. mangostana, G. rostrata and G. vilersiana have nucleotide additivity (two different nucleotides at the same nucleotide position) at several sites in the ITS region. The occurrence of these species might be related to hybridization with ancestors, but the genomic compositions, even chromosome numbers, of these species are still unknown.