Silica bodies in leaves of neotropical Podostemaceae: taxonomic and phylogenetic perspectives.

Background and Aims: The presence, location and morphology of silica bodies are informative anatomical characters in angiosperms, mainly in Poales. In Podostemaceae, a strictly aquatic family, these structures are mentioned frequently, but there is limited insight into their location and morphological features. In the present study we focused on describing and analysing the morphological diversity of silica bodies in leaves of neotropical Podostemaceae at the intra- and interspecific levels to determine their taxonomic and phylogenetic relevance.

Methods: We studied 103 specimens distributed across 40 species. Silica body morphological traits were analysed under light and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, data from three species of Hypericaceae (sister group) were retrieved from the literature. A phylogenetic framework based on four molecular markers was built in order to reconstruct ancestral character states related to silica bodies in neotropical Podostemaceae.

Key Results: Silica bodies were detected in epidermal, subepidermal and perivascular cells, presenting different shapes and surface morphology. Presence and location were used for primary differentiation while surface morphology and lumen (presence and shape) were used for finer distinctions. Intraspecific comparisons among samples showed that the length and width of these structures were highly variable. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses for ancestral character reconstruction were congruent. Three out of five characters showed a statistically strong phylogenetic signal.

Conclusions: Silica bodies were reported for the first time for 19 taxa, and their morphological diversity is greater than reported in previous studies. Their presence can be considered an apomorphy in Podostemaceae. Although some significant differences were detected in length and width, qualitative characters are more informative at both specific and generic ranks.