Tropical Asian species show that the Old World clade of ‘spiny solanums’ (Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum pro parte: Solanaceae) is not monophyletic

The tropical Asian taxa of the species-rich genus Solanum (Solanaceae) have been less well studied than their highly diverse New World relatives. Most of these tropical Asian species, including the cultivated brinjal eggplant/aubergine and its wild progenitor, are part of the largest monophyletic Solanum lineage, the ‘spiny solanums’ (subgenus Leptostemonum or the Leptostemonum clade). Here we present the first phylogenetic analysis of spiny solanums that includes broad sampling of the tropical Asian species, with 42 of the 56 currently recognized species represented. Two nuclear and three plastid regions [internal transcribed spacer (ITS), waxy, ndhF-rpL32, trnS-trnG and trnT-trnF] were amplified and used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. Our analyses show that Old World spiny solanums do not resolve in a single clade, but are part of three unrelated lineages, suggesting at least three independent introductions from the New World. We identify and describe several monophyletic groups in Old World solanums that have not been previously recognized. Some of these lineages are coherent in terms of morphology and geography, whereas others show considerable morphological variation and enigmatic distribution patterns. Tropical Asia occupies a key position in the biogeography of Old World spiny solanums, with tropical Asian taxa resolved as the closest relatives of diverse groups of species from Australia and Africa.