Artemisia and its Allies: Genome Organization and Evolution and their Biosystematic, Taxonomic, and Phylogenetic Implications in the Artemisiinae and Related Subtribes (Asteraceae, Anthemideae)

With around 500 species, Artemisia is the largest genus of tribe Anthemideae and one of the largest of family Asteraceae. This genus and its more or less closely related genera—some of them segregated from Artemisia— constitute subtribe Artemisiinae. Other genera with conflictive taxonomic relationships with Artemisia are included in the current classification, in other subtribes such as Chrysantheminae, Handeliinae, Leucantheminae, and Tanacetinae. Many of the taxa belonging to this complex are of economic importance in various fields, such as medicinal, food, and ornamental. This pool of about 30 genera and 650 species has been profusely, but not completely studied using, among others, cytogenetic and molecular approaches. This paper presents a synthetic 256 approach, with new, original data, to our contributions and those of other authors to the knowledge of genome structure and evolution in these taxa and its systematic implications. Data available suggest that classical and current classifications, mostly based on morphological characters, do not reflect natural groups, either at subtribal, or at generic or infrageneric taxonomic levels. Completion of genome studies in the Artemisiinae and related subtribes would lead to a structuring representative of the phylogenetic relationships within this group.