Phylogenetic Signal of the Nuclear Gene GA20ox1 in Seed Plants: The Relationship Between Monocots and Eudicots

This study investigated the phylogenetic signal of the nuclear gene GA20ox1 in seed plants focusing in the relationship between Monocots and Eudicots. Sequences were obtained from GenBank and analyzed using the maximum likelihood and the maximum parsimony approaches. A maximum likelihood tree was built using sequences of the rbcL plastid gene in order to enable comparison of the results. The GA20ox1 gene presents neutral evolution, levels of homoplasy equivalent to that observed in chloroplast sequences and generated well-resolved phylogenetic relationships. The relationship between Mocots and Eudicots based on the GA20ox1 gene was clear resolved, revealing the evolution of both groups. All these characteristics taken together make the GA20ox1 gene a promissory marker to corroborate as well as to complement and resolve phylogenetic relationships among species within one to several genera.