Paraphyly of bryophytes inferred using chloroplast sequences
- The availability of organelle genome sequences in public databases facilitates the reconstruction of land plants phylogeny. Therefore the present phylogenetic analysis was conducted using chloroplast genome sequences of plants to study phylogenetic relationship of bryophytes. The representative taxa were selected considering the availability of organelle genome sequences in database. Inferred tree topologies showed paraphyly of bryophytes with sister relationship between hornworts and vascular plants irrespective of the method (Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference) and type of sequences (Nucleotide and Protein) used. Among bryophytes liverworts are the first to diverge therefore appeared as sister to land plants. Moreover land plants formed a monophyletic group.