Data from: Phylogeny of the Detarioid Genera Cynometra and Maniltoa (Leguminosae)

The genus Cynometra (Leguminosae, Detarioideae) is a large, pantropical group of woody plants ranging in size from 5-50 meters. While many recent advances have been made in higher level legume systematics, many large genera still require more study to test their monophyly. Further, its relationship to the much smaller Pacific genus Maniltoa is unclear. Here we present the first broadly-sampled phylogeny of Cynometra and Maniltoa, based on molecular data from three chloroplast loci: matK, the trnL intron and the trnL intergenic spacer. Our analyses indicate that Cynometra is not monophyletic as currently circumscribed, as several researchers had previously suspected. We recover two strongly supported clades of Cynometra sensu lato; one that is most closely related to a clade consisting of the genera Dicymbe and Polystemonanthus and is composed of exclusively African taxa and another clade that is pantropical and is nested in a larger clade with the Scorodolphoeus group and the genera Normandiodendron, Neochevalierodendron, and Zenkerella. Futhermore, the genus Maniltoa is nested within the pantropical Cynometra clade and is also non-monophyletic. The two clades are each supported by several morphological characters that can be used to distinguish between them (e.g. inflorescence structure, pedicel articulation, fruit dehiscence). These results will be used to modify the classification by moving the relevant African taxa to a new genus and placing Maniltoa in synonymy with Cynometra.

缅茄属（Cynometra）隶属于豆科（Leguminosae）Detarioideae亚科，是一类泛热带分布的大型木本植物类群，株高介于5至50米之间。尽管近年来豆科高阶分类系统研究已取得诸多进展，但多数大型属级类群仍需更多研究以验证其单系性（monophyly）。此外，该属与体型更小的太平洋地区特有属曼尼托阿属（Maniltoa）之间的系统发育关系仍不明确。本研究基于3个叶绿体基因座（chloroplast loci）的分子数据——matK基因、trnL内含子（trnL intron）及trnL基因间隔区（trnL intergenic spacer），首次构建了覆盖范围广泛的缅茄属与曼尼托阿属系统发育树。分析结果显示，正如此前多位研究者所推测的那样，当前界定范围内的缅茄属并非单系类群。我们鉴定得到两个得到强力支持的广义缅茄属（Cynometra sensu lato）演化支：其中一支与由Dicymbe属和Polystemonanthus属构成的演化支亲缘关系最近，且仅包含非洲分布的类群；另一支为泛热带分布类群，嵌套于一个包含Scorodolphoeus类群以及Normandiodendron属、Neochevalierodendron属和Zenkerella属的更大演化支之中。此外，曼尼托阿属（Maniltoa）嵌套于泛热带分布的缅茄属演化支内部，且同样并非单系类群。这两个演化支均有多个形态学性状作为支持依据，可用于二者的区分——例如花序结构、花梗关节及果实开裂方式。本研究结果将用于修正豆科分类系统：将相关非洲类群独立为新属，并将曼尼托阿属（Maniltoa）归为缅茄属的同物异名。