For over a century, the origins and mechanisms underlying the diversification of the enormous cosmopolitan genus Carex (>2,100 species; Cariceae, Cyperaceae or sedge family) have remained largely speculative. Although its unique morphology (e.g., unisexual flowers, perigynia) clearly indicated it was a natural group, it obscured its relationships to all other Cyperaceae because the morphological gap between it and the rest of the family was so wide. Consequently, no plausible sister group to Carex has ever been proposed. Early molecular analyses narrowed the problem by placing Carex within a strongly-supported clade with the enigmatic monospecific genus Khaosokia, and tribes Dulichieae and Scirpeae (hereafter CDS), a group consisting of 2,250 species, or approximately 41% of all Cyperaceae. However, poor taxonomic sampling and the limited number of molecular markers used in these studies meant that the sister group to Carex remained a mystery. The goals of this thesis were to resolve evolutionary relationships within the CDS clade, to identify the sister group to Carex, and to develop a new natural tribal classification of CDS that could be used in future biogeographic and comparative analyses of Carex and its relatives. Initial phylogenetic analyses using two plastid markers (matK, ndhF) identified seven major CDS lineages, and suggested that Carex could be nested within a paraphyletic Scirpeae. However, backbone support for these relationships was low due to an ancient rapid radiation (~10 million years) followed by long divergence of the seven major lineages (~40 million years). The addition of conventional sequence-based markers from the plastid genome (rps16) and nuclear ribosomal region (ETS-1f, ITS) indicated that a traditional molecular approach would not resolve these key backbone nodes. Consequently, a recently developed flowering-plant-specific anchored enrichment probe kit targeting hundreds of conserved nuclear genes combined with next generation sequencing was used to resolve the CDS backbone. Although the resulting phylogenomic dataset was able to resolve the CDS backbone with high support, the topology and branch lengths only reaffirmed the isolated position of Carex. However, comparative morphological analyses of specimens at key herbaria not only suggested that Sumatroscirpus, a rare genus thought to be endemic to Sumatra, could be sister to Carex, but they also provided an easily accessible site to collect DNA in Northern Vietnam. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses of plastid (matK, ndhF, rps16) and nuclear ribosomal (ETS-1f, ITS) markers strongly supported Sumatroscirpus as the sister to Carex, and molecular dating estimates suggested they shared a common ancestor in the late Eocene (~36 million years ago). Comparative studies and ancestral state estimates of key morphological characters were congruent with this hypothesis, suggesting that the perigynium is not unique to Carex, but in fact a synapomorphy shared with Sumatroscirpus. This means that the initial key innovation in the remarkable diversification of Carex is not the perigynium, but could be the release of mechanical constraints that permitted the evolution of the remarkable morphological diversity of Carex perigynia seen today. A taxonomic revision of Sumatroscirpus revealed that this purportedly monospecific genus actually consisted of four species, and it extended its range over 2,400 km to the north into Northern Vietnam, Myanmar, and Southwestern China. The phylogenetic framework provided by the previous studies enabled a new tribal and generic classification of CDS to be proposed. Seven monophyletic tribes are recognised including four new tribes (Calliscirpeae, Khaosokieae, Sumatroscirpeae, Trichophoreae), and a new genus (Rhodoscirpus). Morphological synapomorphies are identified for all recognized tribes, and a worldwide treatment, including identification keys, is provided for Sumatroscirpus species, CDS genera, and Cyperaceae tribes.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-02-03T12:05:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 alencarmirandaamaral.pdf: 1670327 bytes, checksum: 2d9c3f9a9d891835776120bfdbe35f33 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-02-03T12:07:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 alencarmirandaamaral.pdf: 1670327 bytes, checksum: 2d9c3f9a9d891835776120bfdbe35f33 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-03T12:07:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 alencarmirandaamaral.pdf: 1670327 bytes, checksum: 2d9c3f9a9d891835776120bfdbe35f33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-31 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Nesta dissertação de mestrado analiso o contato inter-religioso promovido pela atuação de missões evangélicas (SIL e MNTB) junto à comunidade indígena Maxakali, localizada no nordeste do Estado de Minas Gerais. Além de acompanhar o desenvolvimento das atividades proselitistas destas instituições entre os índios Maxakali, objetivamos compreender como ao longo do contato inter-religioso ocorre o processo de identificação do Deus cristão com o personagem indígena Topa. Na bibliografia sobre os índios Maxakali, Topa aparece como o personagem central do “mito de criação” do grupo, e apesar de alguns autores reconhecerem que seu nome também era associado ao Deus cristão, não existem análises sobre este processo. Assim, nosso desafio será compreender como Topa foi, e vêm sendo, apropriado de diferentes maneiras ao longo do contato entre os Maxakali e os missionários evangélicos; e também analisar o processo que possibilitou que este personagem gradativamente fosse identificado com o Deus cristão. O escopo desta pesquisa é, portanto, perceber o esforço missionário de inserir o Deus cristão ao contexto Maxakali através do personagem Topa. A partir da análise de mitos Maxakali e hinos evangélicos traduzidos para o idioma do grupo buscaremos compreender este processo de associação, e também a (in)adequação dos ensinamentos missionários aos padrões sócioculturais e religiosos dos índios Maxakali. / In this master’s dissertation, I analyze the pro inter-religious contact heard by acts of evangelic missions (SIL and MNTB) on the Maxakali Indian at the northeast of Minas Gerais. Besides of studying the proselytizes activities of this institutions among the Maxakali Indians, we have the goal to understand how the Indians started to associate Topa (the Indian character) as the Christian God during this inter-religious contact. In the Maxakali biography, Topa come as the central character of the “creation myth” of the group an despite of the fact that some authors recognize Topa as the Christian God in their works, that are no analysis about it. So the challenge here is to understand how Topa was used in so many ways during the contact between the Maxakali and the evangelic missionaries; and analyze the process the made possible this character to be gradually associated with the Christian God. Hence, the purpose of this research is to realize the missionary effort to introduce the Christian God in the Maxakali context through Topa. From the analysis of the Maxakali myths an evangelic religions songs translated to their idiom, we will try understand the association process, and also how (in)adequate were the Christian teaching to the Maxakali religious and social-cultural standards.