Family Solanaceae: Taxonomy and modern trends

Abstract

Solanaceae belongs to that group of families, which are included in almost all angiosperm classifications indicating naturalness of the family. The family being one of the most evolutionarily successful and advanced taxa shows astonishing level of diversity reflected in the form of various types of adaptations. The high level of diversity within the family in addition to other unusual features have reflected in poor understanding of its phylogenetics. Fossil record of angiosperms particularly of Solanaceae) is very meager and relatively recent, so use of morphology and other conventional characters is not convincing in revealing true phylogeny of the family. This all has necessitated using alternative marker types in phylogenetic analysis of the family. Since advent of molecular biology molecular markers have been constantly refined to serve the purpose. Solanaceous species, such as tomato, potato, chilli pepper, tobacco, and petunia serve as model systems for the investigation of molecular and agronomic questions, and the family is the subject of intensive phylogenetic studies that are providing new insights into species boundaries and generic relationships. Results from recent morphological, molecular, and biosystematic research have shed new light on the systematic relationships in the family at virtually all taxonomic levels from subfamily to variety.