diversity Article Phylogenomic Study of Monechma Reveals Two Divergent Plant Lineages of Ecological Importance in the African Savanna and Succulent Biomes 1, , 2, 3 4,5 Iain Darbyshire * y, Carrie A. Kiel y, Corine M. Astroth , Kyle G. Dexter , Frances M. Chase 6 and Erin A. Tripp 7,8 1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK 2 Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont Graduate University, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, USA;
[email protected] 3 Scripps College, 1030 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, USA;
[email protected] 4 School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JN, UK;
[email protected] 5 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, UK 6 National Herbarium of Namibia, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, National Botanical Research Institute, Private Bag 13306, Windhoek 10005, Namibia;
[email protected] 7 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, UCB 334, Boulder, CO 80309, USA;
[email protected] 8 Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, UCB 350, Boulder, CO 80309, USA * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +44-(0)20-8332-5407 These authors contributed equally. y Received: 1 May 2020; Accepted: 5 June 2020; Published: 11 June 2020 Abstract: Monechma Hochst. s.l. (Acanthaceae) is a diverse and ecologically important plant group in sub-Saharan Africa, well represented in the fire-prone savanna biome and with a striking radiation into the non-fire-prone succulent biome in the Namib Desert. We used RADseq to reconstruct evolutionary relationships within Monechma s.l. and found it to be non-monophyletic and composed of two distinct clades: Group I comprises eight species resolved within the Harnieria clade, whilst Group II comprises 35 species related to the Diclipterinae clade.