Nucleotide composition and CpG and CpNpG content of ITS1, ITS2, and the 5.8S rRNA in representatives of the phylogenetic branches melanthiales-liliales and melanthiales-asparagales (Angiospermae, Monocotyledones) reflect the specifics of their evolution

The nucleotide composition and the contents of CpG and CpNpG in internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8S rRNA gene of the nuclear genome were studied in two phylogenetic lineages of monocotyledonous angiosperms. The evolutionary advance of taxa by morphological characters proved to positively correlate with an increase in the contents of C, CpG, and CpNpG, contrasting the views that genome evolution in vertebrate and higher plants tends to decrease or, at least, preserve the amount of CpG and CpNpG, potentially subject to methylation, in nuclear DNA. Cryptaffinity taxa, which are intermediates between morphologically distinct taxonomic groups, displayed higher contents of CpG and CpNpG as compared with neighboring taxa. Changes in the contents of these elements in the regions of cryptaffinity taxa are intricate, suggesting a reciprocating character for their accumulation. Cryptaffinity taxa and their close phylogenetic relatives from the ancestral and descendant groups were assumed to reflect the key macroevolutionary changes and to correspond to saltatory periods separating the periods of gradual evolution.