Phylogenetic relationships between six species of Phaseolus and Vigna as determined by RFLP analysis of ribosomal DNA

Phylogenetic relationships between four Phaseolus (P. angularis, P. calcaratus, P. coccineus and P. vulgaris (including six cultivars)) and two Vigna (V. sesquipedalis and V. sinensis) species were studied by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using 15 restriction enzymes and two ribosomal DNA fragments from rice and mung bean as probes. Based on the RFLP data, phylogenetic trees were constructed by the distance matrix and maximum parsimony methods. The two trees constructed by the distance matrix method and one tree constructed by the maximum parsimony method had congruent topology and recognized three clusters: one containing V. sesquipedalis and V. sinensis; a second containing P. angularis; and a third containing P. calcaratus, P. coccineus and six cultivars of P. vulgaris. Grouping of the six species based on the molecular taxonomic data obtained is compared with grouping based on previously reported cytological data.