Abstract
Capsicum L. encompasses 43 American species, including the five domesticated worldwide consumed sweet and hot chiles. This study presents new, updated and age-calibrated phylogenetic hypothesis on the genus evolution incorporating nearly all currently accepted Capsicum species. A new model of spatial diversification of Capsicum is proposed based on analyses of several thousands of genome-wide RAD-seq derived SNPs. Maximum likelihood approaches were used to reconstruct phylogenies and to estimate dates of all major splits. Ancestral ranges were inferred and diversification events were modeled in a time frame using a Bayesian approach. Nine clades corresponding to genetically and (mostly) geographically well-defined lineages, which diversified starting around mid-upper Miocene, were recovered with strong support. The Northern and Central Andes were inferred to represent the most likely ancestral range of the genus Capsicum. A few early vicariant and dispersal events were estimated to have driven the geographic divergence of the main Capsicum clades. Each lineage was inferred to have diversified within a distinct region of South America and expanded geographically to different extent. Extant species diversification was inferred to have begun at the beginning of Pliocene and continued through the Pleistocene. The Central Andes, represented mainly by the territory of present-day Bolivia, were proposed to play a central role in the diversification of lineages comprising domesticated capsicums and their wild allies. The genome-wide approach allowed for high resolution and support of deep phylogenetic nodes providing novel insights into the affinities of major lineages and clades as well as on the geographic expansion of Capsicum. This study provides the first dated evolutionary history of the genus encompassing most of the chile species diversity.
Introduction
The nightshades family (Solanaceae) includes several domesticated species of global relevance, such as potato, tomato, eggplant, tobacco and chiles. Sweet and hot chiles belong to the American genus Capsicum L. and are widely used as vegetables and spices around the world. There are five domesticated species in Capsicum: C. annuum L., C. chinense Jacq., C. frutescens L., C. baccatum L. and C. pubescens Ruiz & Pav., with C. annuum being economically most important and including a range of sweet and hot varietals. The species diversity within the genus greatly exceeds that of its domesticated species. Field expeditions across South America have resulted in discovery and description of 13 new Capsicum species in recent years, of which six over the last 4 years (; ; , , , , ). Thus, the genus Capsicum encompasses currently 43 species native to tropical and temperate regions of the Americas, ranging from central Argentina to southern United States (; ; , , , ). A detailed and thorough taxonomic treatment has recently been published for Capsicum () providing a timely opportunity to review the evolutionary history of the genus.
Several hypotheses on the genus evolution have previously been proposed based on single marker DNA sequence analyses using various subsets of Capsicum species (Walsh and Hoot, 2001; ; ; ; , ). Following the latest results, 11 clades have been distinguished within the genus albeit with weak support for some of the branches (cf. ; , ). Specifically, the affinities of C. flexuosum Sendtn., C. longidentatum Agra & Barboza, C. coccineum (Rusby) Hunz., C. tovarii Eshbaugh, P.G.Sm. & Nickrent, and C. pubescens remained poorly resolved (; ). All DNA-based phylogenetic analyses conducted to date were congruent in the placement of the five domesticated species in the most derived clades of the genus. Similarly, a monophyletic group identified as Andean clade () has consistently been recovered as the most basal Capsicum lineage.
Contrasting hypotheses have been put forward concerning the geographic origin and dispersal of Capsicum (; ; ; Pozzobon et al., 2006; ). The most recent hypothesis based on geographic area modeling suggested the Andean region in western to north-western South America as the ancestral range of origin of the genus, from where the species diversification would have progressively expanded the genus’ range across South America, eventually reaching Central America and southern United States (). This hypothesis was framed within a series of climatic and geological events that strongly influenced the American biota (e.g., ; ), although the evolutionary history within Capsicum was not dated (cf. ). No published data concerning the temporal aspect of Capsicum diversification and evolution are available in the literature, although general evolutionary timeline has been proposed for the entire Solanaceae family (Särkinen et al., 2013; ).
Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS) technologies generate large amounts of genome-wide DNA sequence data that allow a wide range of analyses for any group of organisms to be performed, regardless of the genetic resources available, and thus enable testing a range of previous hypotheses. One such technology is the Restriction-site-Associated DNA Sequencing (RAD-seq), a reduced-representation sequencing approach that allows scans of the whole genome to characterize overall genetic diversity (). RAD-seq based phylogenetic analyses are used to infer evolutionary histories of genera and families up to ca. 20 million years old (), i.e., a period of time spanning the whole Capsicum history and beyond (cf. ). In the current study, the genome-wide RAD-seq methodology was applied to the whole Capsicum genus, with more than 80% of species representation, to analyze its diversification and evolution using various phylogenetic and modeling approaches. Specifically, the RAD-seq DNA data were used to reconstruct age-calibrated phylogeny of the whole genus and to address the main events of geographic expansion within a time frame. To this end, the following specific questions were addressed: 1) Is the species diversity of Capsicum structured and confined to well-defined clades, with strongly supported inter-clade relationships?, 2) What are the main spatio-temporal patterns of diversification within Capsicum? and 3) Can major periods and/or events accompanying the diversification and evolution of the genus be inferred? This study puts special emphasis on the diversity of the wild Capsicum species, considering that they have not been subjected to artificial selection by domestication, and therefore they are best suited to unravel the evolutionary history of the chiles.
Materials and methods
Plant material, DNA isolation and sequencing
A total of 54 samples of 36 Capsicum species representing all currently recognized clades of the genus were included in the analyses [Supplementary Table S1; and ]. Only seven species were not be included in the analyses (Supplementary Table S1): C. benoistii Hunz. ex Barboza (insertae sedis) and six species which belong to the two most speciose clades, Andean [C. hookerianum (Miers) Kuntze and C. regale Barboza & Bohs] and Atlantic Forest (C. carassense Barboza & Bianch., C. hunzikerianum Barboza & Bianch., C. mirum Barboza and C. pereirae Barboza & Bianch.). One Lycianthes (Dunal) Hassl. species, the sister genus of Capsicum, was used as outgroup (Supplementary Table S1). Samples were collected either in the wild or were obtained from ex situ live collections maintained at the HBV (University of Vienna, Austria) and the IMBIV (Argentina). Genomic DNA was isolated using either the DNeasy Plant Mini® kit (Qiagen, United States) or the Invisorb® Spin Plant Mini Kit (Invitek Molecular GmbH, Germany) from leaves dried in silica gel. DNA extracts were purified using the NucleoSpin® gDNA Clean-up kit (Macherey-Nagel GmbH & Co., Germany). DNA was checked for quality by agarose gel electrophoresis and quantified using a Qubit® 3 Fluorometer (Invitrogen, United States). RAD-seq libraries preparation followed the protocol of Paun et al. (2016) with modified settings for DNA fragmentation (i.e., six cycles 90 s off, 60 s on), and using 150 ng for each sample. A two-index combinatorial approach was followed using standard Illumina indexes and inline barcodes. Multiplexed libraries were sequenced (single-end) using an Illumina HiSeq 100bp System (Vienna Biocenter Core Facilities, Austria; https://www.vbcf.ac.at/ngs).
RAD-seq data filtering
Raw sequence data were de-multiplexed using illumina2bam (https://github.com/gq1/illumina2bam) and process_radtags in Stacks v.2.41 () with simultaneous sequence quality filtering (minimum Phred scores 30, allowing a single mismatch in the adapters). Variable SNP loci were filtered and clustered using ipyrad v0.9.45 (), adjusting only the parameter 21 (the minimum number of samples per locus) and keeping default options in the remaining parameters. Two de novo genome-wide datasets were assembled and prepared for different analytical approaches (Supplementary Table S1): 1) extended dataset, comprising all 54 samples of the 36 species studied (Supplementary Data sheet S1), and 2) species dataset, including a single sample per species, except for C. annuum, which was represented by its two varieties (Supplementary Data sheet S2). Missing data are expected in RAD-seq data sets and allowing large amounts of missing data would be favorable for phylogenetic analysis (e.g., more parsimony-informative sites, higher overall branch support), particularly when distantly related taxa are involved (Rubin et al., 2012; ; ; ). Therefore, test rounds setting percentages of 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 for the minimum number of samples per locus, specified by the parameter 21 in ipyrad, were performed using both datasets by building maximum likelihood trees. The trees generated were compared and used to define a maximum threshold of missing data for the analyses aiming to generate strongly supported phylogenies. The tree topologies were largely congruent across all main splits in each case, with support values (ultrafast bootstrap and site concordance factors) dropping with the increase of the minimum number of samples per locus (i.e., reducing the amount of missing data). Discrepancies in a few shallow splits (inter-specific affinities) were also observed in the generated trees, with low-moderate support. A minimum of 25% of the samples with data for any given locus was set to filter SNPs for the extended dataset and 30% for the species dataset, based on support values obtained in the test rounds. Output phylip files generated by ipyrad containing a single SNP per locus (∗.usnps.phy files) for both assembled datasets were used for further analyses.
Phylogenetic inferences
Maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of both datasets were performed using the IQ-Tree software (Nguyen et al., 2015). To address ascertainment bias issues, the ascertainment bias correction (ASC) model was used. Variable sites were filtered out from input datasets producing output alignments which can then be used with the ASC model. The best nucleotide substitution model with lowest BIC score was determined a priori using ModelFinder () as implemented in IQ-Tree. The TVM + F model was recovered as the best one for both datasets. Branch supports were calculated with ultrafast bootstrap (UFBoot, 1,000 replicates; ) implemented in IQ-Tree, with UFBoot ≥95% considered to be strong. Site concordance factors (sCF) were also calculated in IQ-Tree (), sampling 100 quartets, as a further measure of branch support. UFBoot/sCF values were provided in that order throughout the text.
Divergence time analysis
Divergence times of the major splits within Capsicum were estimated using the species dataset following a penalized likelihood approach as implemented in the chronos function in the ape package (Paradis and Schliep, 2019) in R (R Core Team, 2020). The ML tree estimated using the species dataset was used as input tree. Two secondary calibration points were applied: 19 million years from the present (myr) for the stem of Capsicum and 13.65 myr for the crown node (root) of the genus, following . Age estimations used in the current analyses () were revised for the Solanaceae family from earlier fossil-calibrated estimations (Särkinen et al., 2013). The relaxed, correlated, and discrete clock models, with values of the smoothing parameter ʎ from 0 to 5, were tested. The discrete model (i.e., different parts of the tree evolve at different rates) was selected based on the information criterion ΦIC (Paradis, 2013) and the penalized log-Lik values. No differences were found when changing the parameter ʎ, which was therefore set to 0. Divergence times were estimated in million years from the present (myr) as crown ages for the clades.
Ancestral ranges estimation
Current ranges of all wild Capsicum taxa were determined using the verified collection data from to define the distributions and areas subsequently used for the analysis. A distribution map was prepared using QGIS 3.16.0-Hannover (QGIS Development Team, 2019); the ESRI Satellite map (ArcGIS/World_Imagery) obtained through the QuickMapServices plug-in (http://nextgis.com/blog/quickmapservices/) was established as basemap layer. Seven areas were defined (Supplementary Figure S1): A. Northern Andes, B. Central Andes, C. Chaco, D. southeastern (SE) South America, E. Amazon basin, F. Central America and southern United States, and G. Galápagos Archipelago. The areas were defined following Thode et al. (2022), with modifications to conform to geological events that have shaped the American landscape from around the time estimated for the origin of Capsicum (see Discussion for more details). Unlike in Thode et al. (2022), Northern and Central Andes were here distinguished as separate areas. Three sections have been recognized in the Andes according to their different geological histories, i.e. Northern, Central and Southern (Pérez-Escobar et al., 2022), with Capsicum species found in the first two. The Northern and Central Andes are geographically separated by the Huancabamba Depression (Pérez-Escobar et al., 2022), which was marked on the map based on the coordinates specified by Weigend (2004). Ancestral ranges were estimated following the Bayesian binary MCMC method (BBM) in RASP 4.2 (Yu et al., 2015). The ultrametric time-calibrated tree generated with the chronos function using the species dataset was used as input tree. The calibrated tree was saved in parenthetic format and exported to a file with the function write. tree in the ape package. The outgroup taxon as well as most of the domesticated Capsicum taxa (C. annuum var. annuum, C. frutescens, C. pubescens, C. baccatum var. pendulum and C. baccatum var. umbilicatum) were excluded from the analysis as their distribution ranges are artificial. Capsicum chinense was the only domesticated species included in the analysis since the data on putative wild forms of this taxon with known geographic location exist () and were used as the species distribution for the analysis. The branches of excluded taxa were removed in RASP creating a subset of data (tree and distributions) to be analyzed. Four MCMC chains were run simultaneously for five millions generations, sampling every 1,000 generations, with a 20% burn-in. The model F81 (estimated state frequencies) + G (gamma among-site rate variation) was applied. The maximum number of areas was set to two, given that most taxa included in the analysis were found in one or two areas, rarely in three or more (four out of 34 taxa). Only areas with probability ≥10% were considered in the interpretations of the ancestral ranges estimated; areas with probabilities of ≥90% were considered as unambiguous ranges for the node concerned.
Results
A total of ≈91 million reads obtained for all the 54 analyzed samples of 36 Capsicum species (Supplementary Table S1) were filtered and assembled into the two datasets: 37,944 total loci/SNPs were retained in the extended dataset (54 samples; Supplementary Data Sheet S1) and 42,636 in the species dataset (37 samples; Supplementary Data Sheet S2).
Phylogenetic analysis of the evolutionary relationships of the genus Capsicum
Maximum Likelihood (ML) analysis of both extended and species datasets of the genus Capsicum resulted in well resolved and strongly supported tree topologies. Nine clades were recovered consistently in the current analyses: Andean, Atlantic Forest, Flexuosum, Caatinga, Bolivian, Pubescens, Tovarii, Baccatum, and Annuum (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). The topologies of the reconstructed trees were largely congruent (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). Minor differences were observed in the position of only a few species: C. galapagoense Hunz. within clade Annuum, the two sister species C. piuranum Barboza & S.Leiva and C. rhomboideum (Dunal) Kuntze within the Andean clade, and C. campylopodium Sendtn., C. recurvatum Witasek and C. schottianum Sendtn. in the Atlantic Forest clade (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). Two well supported main lineages splitting at the root were recovered within the genus: one lineage that encompassed exclusively the earliest diverging and highly supported Andean clade (100/80.1) with seven species [C. dimorphum (Miers) Kuntze, C. longifolium Barboza & S.Leiva, C. piuranum, C. rhomboideum, C. lanceolatum (Greenm.) C.V.Morton & Standl. C. geminifolium (Dammer) Hunz. and C. lycianthoides Bitter], and the second large lineage comprising all of the remaining 29 species, also strongly supported (100/95.7) (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). This second large lineage was again divided into two main sublineages (at node I; Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2): one encompassing clades Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Flexuosum (99/33.2) and a second encompassing the remaining five clades: Bolivian, Pubescens, Tovarii, Baccatum and Annuum, with addition of two unassigned species, C. neei Barboza & X.Reyes and C. ceratocalyx M.Nee (100/64.6). The well-supported Atlantic Forest clade (100/56.5), consisting of eight species (C. cornutum (Hiern) Hunz., C. friburgense (Bianch. & Barboza), C. muticum (Sendtn.) Barboza, C. mirabile Mart., C. campylopodium, C. recurvatum, C. schottianum and C. villosum Sendtn.; Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2), split at node II and was sister to two other clades (94/30.7): Caatinga comprising three species (C. caatingae Barboza & Agra, C. parvifolium Sendtn. and C. longidentatum; 100/61.4) and the monotypic Flexuosum clade (C. flexuosum; 100/99.2) (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). This sublineage and in particular the position of clade Flexuosum were moderately supported in the phylogeny obtained from the analysis of the species dataset (77/27.9 and 67/29.6, respectively; Supplementary Figure S2). Within the other main sublineage of five clades, the Bolivian clade (80/40), encompassing three species (C. caballeroi M.Nee, C. minutiflorum (Rusby) Hunz. and C. coccineum), diverged at node III (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). Next, two species, C. neei and C. ceratocalyx, were recovered in isolated positions (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). The positions of C. coccineum and C. ceratocalyx were mostly moderately supported in the different analyses performed (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). Clades Pubescens, Tovarii, Baccatum, and Annuum were resolved as the most terminal branches of the lineage, and were therefore collectively recognized as the ‘crown group’ of Capsicum (100/36.8) (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). These clades encompassed all of the domesticated species and their closest wild relatives. The Annuum (C. annuum, C. chinense, C. frutescens and C. galapagoense) and Baccatum (C. baccatum, C. rabenii Sendtn. and C. chacoense Hunz.) clades were recovered as well supported sister groups (100/64.2; Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). The monotypic Tovarii clade (C. tovarii) was inferred to be sister to the two former ones (100/62.3; Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). Clade Pubescens (C. pubescens, C. cardenasii Heiser & P.G.Sm., C. eximium Hunz. and C. eshbaughii Barboza; 100/63.6) was recovered as sister group to the assemblage Annuum-Baccatum-Tovarii (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2). All the support values provided in this paragraph correspond to the analysis of the extended dataset, unless otherwise indicated.
FIGURE 1
The nine clades recovered from the analyses and the lineages in which they segregated were strongly structured geographically (Figure 2). The lineage formed by the Andean clade included species mostly native to the Northern Andes in South America, extending to Central America (Figure 2). The main sublineages splitting within the second large lineage at node I (clades Atlantic Forest, Flexuosum, Caatinga, Bolivian, Pubescens, Tovarii, Baccatum, and Annuum), after the divergence of the Andean clade, also occupied distinct geographical ranges. The species representing clades Caatinga, Flexuosum, and Atlantic Forest (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure S2) that diversified from node II, were mainly distributed in eastern South America (Figure 2) and have thus been referred to as the ‘Eastern’ branch. The remaining sublineage diversifying at node III and comprising clades Bolivian, Pubescens, Tovarii, Baccatum, and Annuum, plus C. ceratocalyx and C. neei, included species native mostly to the central, western and north-western parts of the South American subcontinent reaching up to Central America and southern United States, with only a few species extending their ranges to eastern territories (e.g., C. baccatum, C. rabenii) (Figure 2). This branch has thus been referred to as the ‘Western’ branch.
FIGURE 2
Divergence times estimation
Divergence times were estimated in million years from the present (myr) as crown ages for the clades (Figure 3, Supplementary Figure S3). The Andean clade was inferred to have diverged at the root of the genus at 13.65 myr but the extant species diversification within this clade was estimated to be more recent, starting in the lower Pliocene ca. 4.54 myr. In the second major lineage of Capsicum, the ‘Eastern’ (clades Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Flexuosum) and ‘Western’ (clades Bolivian, Pubescens, Tovarii, Baccatum and Annuum, and C. ceratocalyx and C. neei) branches at node I diverged from one another 7.62 myr in the upper Miocene. The Atlantic Forest clade diverged 6.81 myr at node II, and the split between the Flexuosum and Caatinga clades was dated to have occurred 6.42 myr, i.e., in the upper Miocene. The Bolivian clade diverged at node III 5.95 myr, C. neei 4.42 myr, while the split of C. ceratocalyx and the ‘crown group’ was dated at 4.18 myr, all inferred to have taken place at the end of the Miocene through to the lower Pliocene. Within the ‘crown group’, the Pubescens clade diverged 3.88 myr in the mid-Pliocene. Capsicum tovarii branch diverged 3.3 myr and clades Annuum and Baccatum split 2.68 myr, during the upper Pliocene. Extant species diversification in all clades was estimated to have mostly taken place between ca. 5 myr (beginning of Pliocene) up to around 0.5–1 myr (mid-upper Pleistocene) (Figure 3, Supplementary Figure S3).
FIGURE 3

Divergence time and ancestral areas estimated within Capsicum. Domesticated taxa with unknown original range are excluded. Recognized clades are labeled; a clades newly circumscribed. 1 Represents C. annuum var. glabriusculum. Ages expressed in millions years from present. Double-ended red arrows at nodes represent vicariant events, gray shadings at the node pies indicate dispersal events. Major geological events are detailed above, denoted by green arrows/lines. Areas: A. Northern Andes, B. Central Andes, C. Chaco, D. SE South America, E. Amazon basin, F. Central America and southern United States, G. Galápagos Archipelago.
Ancestral ranges estimation
The ancestral range estimated for the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Capsicum was inferred most likely to be located in the Andean region (61.6% Northern Andes, 17.6% Central Andes; Figure 3, Supplementary Data Sheet S3). The BBM analysis inferred a total of four vicariant events, 27 dispersals, and no extinctions throughout the diversification history of the genus. An early vicariant event was inferred to have fragmented the ancestral range of Capsicum MRCA, after a dispersal event, into the Northern and Central Andes regions, each corresponding to the two main Capsicum lineages (Figure 3). Within the Andean clade, the Northern Andes were estimated to represent a strong component across the ancestral ranges, with dispersal events inferred from the Northern Andes towards the Central Andes and Central America (Figure 3). A vicariant event associated with C. lanceolatum speciation was inferred to have taken place in Central America in the Pleistocene (Figure 3). The ancestral range at node I was ambiguous, with three putative areas: the Central Andes (39.3%) and SE South America (31.9%) with the highest probabilities, and the Northern Andes (11.1%) with lower probability (Figure 3, Supplementary Data Sheet S3). In the upper Miocene, a vicariant event divided the combined Central Andes/SE South America into the two separate areas, following a range expansion towards SE South America, resulting in the ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ branches. SE South America (94.6%) was unambiguously reconstructed as ancestral range at node II and was the dominant ancestral range inferred throughout the ‘Eastern’ branch (Figure 3, Supplementary Data Sheet S3). Dispersal events were inferred from SE South America towards the Chaco (C. flexuosum, clade Flexuosum) and the Northern Andes (possibly long-distance dispersal of C. parvifolium, clade Caatinga) at different ages (Figure 3). The ancestral range of the MRCA of the ‘Western’ branch at node III was inferred to be the Central Andes (91.4%), and it was also inferred as the ancestral range at all the deep nodes within this branch as well as for the Pubescens clade (99.6%). The Central Andes were recovered as the most likely ancestral range (79.7%) for the Bolivian clade (Figure 3, Supplementary Data Sheet S3). A dispersal event from the ancestral range of the MRCA of clades Tovarii, Baccatum and Annuum was inferred to have occurred towards SE South America. The ancestral range for the MRCA of the Baccatum and Annuum clades, which included the Central Andes/SE South America combined (40.2%) and the Central Andes (35.2%; Figure 3), could not be unambiguously inferred. Dispersals were inferred to have occurred within these areas and towards the Amazon basin. The inferred ancestral range of clade Baccatum was also ambiguous, encompassing three combined areas (Figure 3, Supplementary Data Sheet S3): Central Andes/SE South America (49.4%), Chaco/SE South America (25.4%), and Central Andes/Chaco (22.3%). Dispersal events within ranges as well as range expansions towards the single areas Chaco and SE South America were inferred for this species group. The range of the MRCA of clade Annuum was recovered as ambiguous, including the Central Andes/Amazon basin (27.4%), the Central Andes/SE South America (21.9%), and the Central Andes (18.7%) (Figure 3, Supplementary Data Sheet S3). Several dispersal events from the Central Andes/Amazon basin towards other areas (Northern Andes, SE South America, the Galápagos Archipelago and Central America and southern United States) have been postulated for species of this clade resulting in their range expansions (Figure 3). A vicariant event associated with the origin of C. galapagoense in the Galápagos Archipelago was inferred following a (long-distance) range expansion (Figure 3).
Speciation events that have occurred within specific areas were calculated to be five in the Northern Andes, 10 in the Central Andes, two in the Chaco, 13 in SE South America, and one in each of the Amazon basin, the Galápagos Archipelago and Central America and southern United States. Only one speciation event remained ambiguous (i.e., C. annuum var. glabriusculum (Dunal) Heiser & Pickersgill). Dispersal events were postulated from and within the Northern and Central Andes, the Chaco, SE South America, and the Amazon basin, and towards all seven areas (Supplementary Data Sheet S4). The Central Andes area was the source of the highest number of dispersal events (eight), followed by the Northern Andes and SE South America (five dispersals each; Supplementary Data Sheet S4). The highest numbers of dispersal events within areas were inferred for SE South America (13) and the Central Andes (10; Supplementary Data Sheet S4). Most dispersal events (24 out of 27) were estimated to have occurred through the Pliocene and Pleistocene (Figure 3), mainly concerning the clades Tovarii, Baccatum and Annuum (16 events, multiple at almost all nodes).
Discussion
This study provides a new robust and updated hypothesis on the diversification and affinities of Capsicum species using sequence data representing the snapshots of whole genomes generated through RAD-seq (ca. 37,000–42,000 SNPs). Analyses of these genome-wide datasets allowed to define major phylogenetic lineages and clades (a phylogenetic backbone), date the major splits, and estimate ancestral ranges of clades’ origin along with diversification events with high confidence.
The current results differed to some extent from previous phylogenetic reconstructions of relationships within the genus Capsicum, mostly in the recovered relationships between several of the clades and in the position of a few species that have remained weakly supported in previous analyses using single marker DNA sequences (cf.
The recovered phylogenetic relationships contained a strong geographic signal, with most of the clades comprising species that are geographically confined to a certain (eco-)geographic region (Figure 2), with the expected exception of the (widespread) domesticated taxa. All Capsicum clades recovered in this study were divided into two major lineages: one encompassing only the earliest splitting Andean clade, diverged at the root ca. 13.65 myr, and the other one including all the remaining species. This is consistent with previous studies which inferred the Andean clade (or any of its species) as basal and markedly divergent, with a set of distinct characters, most remarkably the lack of fruit pungency (Walsh and Hoot, 2001;
Secondary calibrations alone or in combination with fossil-based calibrations, have been used with confidence in a number of studies to provide dating for major evolutionary events of various plant groups [e.g., Willi et al. (2020) and
The patterns of spatial diversification for Capsicum proposed in this study differ from previous hypothesis (
FIGURE 4

Main events of Capsicum spatial diversification through time. Different colors represent current distribution ranges per area. Geographic areas indicated on the figures: A, Northern Andes; B, Central Andes; C, Chaco, D, southeastern South America; E, Amazon basin; F, Central America and southern United States; G, Galápagos Archipelago. Dotted lines indicate islands that are yet to emerge; dashed lines–vicariant events; bold arrows–dispersal events.
In the period of time spanning Capsicum evolution, extensive geological changes shaped the landscape in South America and likely had a strong impact on the entire American biota (
The ancestral range of the MRCA of the second major Capsicum lineage at node I (ca. 7.62 myr) was reconstructed as ambiguous, with three likely areas to the SE and SW of the Acre system, the latter formed in the upper Miocene (ca. 7–10 myr) in the contemporary Amazon basin (
The Central Andes were inferred as a major component of the ancestral ranges estimated across the ‘Western’ branch, except for the more derived clades Baccatum and Annuum. This area, represented mainly by the territory of present-day Bolivia, according to the extant species distribution (cf.
The Andes harbor the highest number of currently recognized Capsicum species (22; cf.
The present study provides an updated comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships within Capsicum based on genome-wide DNA data. The relationships were largely very well supported and fully resolved. Nine well-defined clades were recovered, with major splits identified and age-calibrated. The main lineages were distinct and geographically structured. A novel hypothesis on the genus spatio-temporal diversification is presented, in which ancient vicariant and expansion events in mid to upper Miocene have been associated with the origin of the main lineages and clades, while more recent dispersal events in mid Pliocene and Pleistocene could have been responsible for the extant species richness and distribution.
Statements
Data availability statement
The datasets supporting the findings of this study are available in the Supplementary Material of this article. The raw data presented in the study are deposited in the NCBI Short Read Archive repository (SRA), BioProject ID PRJNA879205, BioSample accessions SAMN30839235-SAMN30839289.
Author contributions
Conceptualization: CCG. Sample collection: CCG, GB, and NP. Laboratory work: CCG. Formal analysis: CCG. Project administration: CCG. Resources: CCG and HW-S. First draft: CCG. Writing: CCG and HW-S. Review and editing: all authors.
Funding
This research was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Lise Meitner M2282-B29, Austria to CC), FONCyT (PICT 2015-3022, Argentina), National Science Foundation ARTS program (DEB 1457366, United States), and a cooperation CONICET (2014–0401 PCB, Argentina to GB)-FWF (AI2119, Austria to HW-S). This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the FWF (AI2119 and M2282-B29). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.
Acknowledgments
Field assistants and guides and multiple donors of plant materials are gratefully acknowledged. We thank D. Pan for the introduction to RAD-seq libraries preparation and data processing. Discussions on methods with P. Šarhanová and O. Paun, and advice on data analysis from G. Schneeweiss are much appreciated.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Supplementary material
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.1030536/full#supplementary-material
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Summary
Keywords
Capsicum, wild chiles, phylogeny, range expansion, RAD-seq
Citation
Carrizo García C, Barboza GE, Palombo N and Weiss-Schneeweiss H (2022) Diversification of chiles (Capsicum, Solanaceae) through time and space: New insights from genome-wide RAD-seq data. Front. Genet. 13:1030536. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1030536
Received
29 August 2022
Accepted
20 September 2022
Published
18 October 2022
Volume
13 - 2022
Edited by
Ezio Portis, University of Turin, Italy
Reviewed by
Maria Eguiluz, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru
Yonghong Zhang, Yunnan Normal University, China
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© 2022 Carrizo García, Barboza, Palombo and Weiss-Schneeweiss.
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*Correspondence: Carolina Carrizo García, ccarrizo@imbiv.unc.edu.ar, carolina.carrizo.garcia@univie.ac.at; Hanna Weiss-Schneeweiss, hanna.schneeweiss@univie.ac.at
This article was submitted to Plant Genomics, a section of the journal Frontiers in Genetics
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