Monophyly or polyphyly? Possible conflict between morphological and molecular interpretations of the wellknown genus Zoothamnium(Ciliophora,Peritrichia)

In this paper, we explore possible conflict between morphological and molecular interpretations of phylogenetic relationships within the well-known peritrichous genus Zoothamnium. On the basis of morphological evidence, for a long time this genus has been believed to be a well-defined monophyletic taxon. Nonetheless, Zoothamnium exhibits higher genetic diversity than the gross morphology of its species. Here, we used all available genetic information for the small subunit of ribosomal RNA （SSU rRNA） and internal transcribed spacer region （ITS1-5.8S-ITS2） for this genus to reconstruct phylogenies for four datasets （SSU rRNA, ITS1, ITS2, and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2） and a combined dataset （SSU rRNA＋ITSI-5.8S- ITS2） using different phylogenetic methods and with consideration of the secondary structure of the genes. Confidence in phylogenetic tree selection was assessed with the approximately unbiased test. The molecular results showed both that Zoothamnium is more likely to be polyphyletic, and morphologically similar genera Zoothamnopsis and Myoschiston were always nested among Zoothamnium species. Accordingly, as with some other groups of ciliates, to understand more fully the correct phylogeny of Zoothamnium there remains a need for additional data from both morphological and molecular studies, covering additional Zoothamnium spp. and members of closely related genera （e.g. Zoothamnopsis, Myoschiston, and Epistylis）.

Polyphyly of the fern family Tectariaceae sensu Ching:Insights from cpDNA sequence data

Tectariaceae are a pantropical fern family of about 20 genera, among which 8 are distributed in China. The morphological distinctiveness of the family is widely recognized, yet relatively little systematic research has been conducted on members of Tectariaceae. Phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast DNA sequence data (rbcL; atpB) from 15 species representing all 8 genera in China were carried out under parsimony criteria; Bayesian inference. The phylogenetic reconstructions indicated that the fern family Tectariaceae as traditionally circumscribed are polyphyletic. Ctenitis, Dryopsis, Lastreopsis clustered with; should be included within the newly-defined Dryopteridaceae,; Pleocnemia is also tentatively assigned to it. A narrowly monophyletic Tectariaceae is identified, which includes Ctenitopsis, Hemigramma, Pteridrys, Quercifilix,; Tectaria. In the single rbcL analysis, Arthropteris clustered with the above-mentioned monophyletic Tectariaceae. Although further investigations are still needed to identify infrafamilial relationships within the monophyletic Tectariaceae; to redefine several problematic genera, we propose a working concept here that better reflects the inferred evolutionary history of this group.