Data from: Unraveling the evolutionary radiation of the families of the Zingiberales using morphological and molecular evidence

The Zingiberales are a tropical group of monocotyledons that includes the bananas, gingers and their relatives. The phylogenetic relationships among the currently recognized eight families are investigated here using parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of four character sets: 1) morphological features; and sequence data of the 2) chloroplast rbcL gene; 3) chloroplast atpB gene; and 4) nuclear 18S rDNA gene. Outgroups for the analyses include the closely related Commelinaceae + Philydraceae + Haemodoraceae + Pontederiaceae + Hanguanaceae as well as seven more distantly related monocots and paleoherbs. Only slightly different estimates of evolutionary relationships result from the analysis of each character set. The morphological data yield a single fully resolved most parsimonious tree. None of the molecular data sets alone completely resolves interfamilial relationships. The analyses of the combined molecular data set provide more resolution than individual genes and the addition of the morphological data provides a well-supported estimate of phylogenetic relationships: (Musaceae ((Strelitziaceae, Lowiaceae) (Heliconiaceae ((Zingiberaceae, Costaceae) (Cannaceae, Marantaceae))))). Evidence from branch lengths in the parsimony analyses and from the fossil record suggest that the Zingiberales originated in the early Cretaceous and underwent a rapid radiation in the mid-Cretaceous by which time most extant family lineages had diverged.

姜目（Zingiberales）是一类热带单子叶植物（monocotyledons）类群，涵盖芭蕉、姜属植物及其近缘类群。本研究采用简约法（parsimony）与最大似然法（maximum likelihood），基于4组特征数据集对当前公认的8个科之间的系统发育关系展开探究：1）形态学特征；2）叶绿体rbcL基因（chloroplast rbcL gene）序列数据；3）叶绿体atpB基因（chloroplast atpB gene）序列数据；4）核18S rDNA基因（nuclear 18S rDNA gene）序列数据。本分析的外类群（Outgroups）涵盖亲缘关系较近的鸭跖草科（Commelinaceae）、田葱科（Philydraceae）、血草科（Haemodoraceae）、雨久花科（Pontederiaceae）、弯子木科（Hanguanaceae），以及7个亲缘关系更远的单子叶植物与古草本类群。不同特征数据集得到的演化关系估算结果仅存在细微差异。形态学数据仅得到1棵完全解析的最简约树（most parsimonious tree）；任一单独的分子数据集均无法完全解析科间亲缘关系。合并分子数据集的分析分辨率高于单基因分析，结合形态学数据后，我们得到了支持度良好的系统发育关系估算结果：（芭蕉科（Musaceae）((旅人蕉科（Strelitziaceae），兰花蕉科（Lowiaceae）)(蝎尾蕉科（Heliconiaceae）((姜科（Zingiberaceae），闭鞘姜科（Costaceae）)(美人蕉科（Cannaceae），竹芋科（Marantaceae）))))）。基于简约法分析中的分支长度与化石记录的证据表明，姜目起源于白垩纪早期，并在白垩纪中期经历了快速辐射演化，此时绝大多数现存的科支系均已完成分化。