Table_1_Chloroplast Phylogenomics Reveals the Intercontinental Biogeographic History of the Liquorice Genus (Leguminosae: Glycyrrhiza).xlsx

The liquorice genus, Glycyrrhiza L. (Leguminosae), is a medicinal herb with great economic importance and an intriguing intercontinental disjunct distribution in Eurasia, North Africa, the Americas, and Australia. Glycyrrhiza, along with Glycyrrhizopsis Boiss. and Meristotropis Fisch. & C.A.Mey., comprise Glycyrrhiza s.l. Here we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history in Glycyrrhiza s.l. using sequence data of whole chloroplast genomes. We found that Glycyrrhiza s.l. is sister to the tribe Wisterieae and is divided into four main clades. Clade I, corresponds to Glycyrrhizopsis and is sister to Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng. Meristotropis is embedded within Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng, and these two genera together form Clades II–IV. Based on biogeographic analyses and divergence time dating, Glycyrrhiza s.l. originated during the late Eocene and its most recent common ancestor (MRCA) was distributed in the interior of Eurasia and the circum-Mediterranean region. A vicariance event, which was possibly a response to the uplifting of the Turkish-Iranian Plateau, may have driven the divergence between Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng and Glycyrrhizopsis in the Middle Miocene. The third and fourth main uplift events of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau may have led to rapid evolutionary diversification within Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng. Subsequently, the MRCA of Clade II might have migrated to North America (G. lepidota) via the Bering land bridge during the early Pliocene, and reached temperate South America (G. astragalina) by long-distance dispersal (LDD). Within Clade III, the ancestor of G. acanthocarpa arrived at southern Australia through LDD after the late Pliocene, whereas all other species (the SPEY clade) migrated to the interior of Eurasia and the Mediterranean region in the early Pleistocene. The MRCA of Clade IV was restricted in the interior of Eurasia, but its descendants have become widespread in temperate regions of the Old World Northern Hemisphere during the last million years.

甘草属（Glycyrrhiza L.，豆科Leguminosae）是一类兼具极高经济价值的药用草本，其分布呈现跨大陆间断格局，涵盖欧亚大陆、北非、美洲及澳大利亚。广义甘草属（Glycyrrhiza s.l.）包含甘草属、拟甘草属（Glycyrrhizopsis Boiss.）与顶果甘草属（Meristotropis Fisch. & C.A.Mey.）。本研究依托叶绿体全基因组序列数据，重建了广义甘草属的系统发育关系与生物地理历史。研究结果显示，广义甘草属与紫藤族（Wisterieae）互为姊妹群，且可划分为4个主要演化支；演化支I对应拟甘草属，与孟氏界定的甘草属（Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng）互为姊妹群，顶果甘草属则嵌入孟氏界定的甘草属内，二者共同构成演化支II至IV。基于生物地理分析与分化时间估算结果，广义甘草属起源于始新世晚期，其最近共同祖先（most recent common ancestor, MRCA）分布于欧亚大陆内陆及地中海周边区域；可能由土耳其-伊朗高原隆升引发的分隔分化事件，促成了中中新世时期孟氏界定的甘草属与拟甘草属的分化，而青藏高原（Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau）的第三、四次主要隆升事件，可能推动了孟氏界定的甘草属内的快速演化分化。随后，演化支II的最近共同祖先可能于上新世早期通过白令陆桥（Bering land bridge）迁移至北美（G. lepidota），并借助长距离扩散（long-distance dispersal, LDD）抵达南美温带区域（G. astragalina）；在演化支III中，G. acanthocarpa的祖先于上新世晚期通过长距离扩散到达澳大利亚南部，其余类群（即SPEY演化支（SPEY clade））则于更新世早期迁移至欧亚大陆内陆与地中海区域；演化支IV的最近共同祖先局限于欧亚大陆内陆，但其后裔在过去百万年间扩散至旧大陆北半球（Old World Northern Hemisphere）的温带区域。