MOLECULAR CIRCUMSCRIPTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE GENUS ACROCLADIUM (BRYOPSIDA) STUDIES IN AUSTRAL TEMPERATE RAIN FOREST BRYOPHYTES 29

Abstract

  The controversy of whether the paleoaustral genus Acrocladium Mitt. consists of one or two species is discussed. In a molecular analysis using the trnL intron and the rps4 gene of the cpDNA, the ITS 1 & 2 of the nrDNA as well as the nuclear adk gene, clear evidence was found for the existence of two genetically distinct taxa, a Chilean-Argentinian species, A. auriculatum (Mont.) Mitt. and a New Zealand-Australian species, A. chlamydophyllum (Hook. f. & Wils.) Broth. It is supposed that both species are derived from a common ancestor before the break-up of Gondwana, as the observed genetic distance is in sharp contrast to rather recent long distance dispersal events.