Phylogenetic relationships between the jackfruit, the breadfruit and nine other Artocarpus spp. from RFLP analysis of an amplified region of cpDNA

The phylogenetic relationships among eleven Artocarpus species, including two economically important species, the jackfruit (A. heterophyllus Lamk) and the breadfruit (A. altilis Fosberg), were estimated by comparing 30 restriction-site mutations in an amplified region of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA). Neighbor-joining and parsimony analyses were performed on the data to identify the relationships. The jackfruit and chempedak (A. integer Merr.) were monomorphic and therefore indistinguishable for all restriction sites. This confirmed the close relationship between these two species. The breadfruit and A. elasticus formed a monophyletic group with strong support from both neighbor-joining and parsimony analyses, indicating the possibility that the breadfruit was derived from A, elasticus or its close relatives. In general, our results were in agreement with the conventional classifications in Artocarpus species except for the position of A. chaplnsha. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.