Chloroplast genome sequencing and comparative analysis of six medicinal
plants of Polygonatum
Abstract
The genus Polygonatum boasts abundant germplasm resources and comprises
numerous species. Among these, medicinal plants of this genus, which
have a long history, have garnered attention of scholars. This study
sequenced and analyzed the chloroplast genomes of six species of
Polygonatum medicinal plants (P. zanlanscianense, P. kingianum, P.
sibiricum, P. cyrtonema, P. filipes and P. odoratum, respectively) to
explore their inter-specific relationships. The sequence length (154,
578–155, 807 bp) and genome structure were conserved among the six
Polygonatum species, with a typical tetrad structure. The genomes
contain 127–131 genes, containing 84–85 protein-coding genes, 37–38
transfer RNA genes, and 6–8 ribosomal RNA genes. The genomes contained
64–76 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 36–62 long repetitive
sequences. Codon bias patterns tended to use codons ending in A/T. In
thirty types of codons with RSCU > 1, 93.3% ended in A/T
of the six species. Twenty-one highly variable plastid regions were
identified in the chloroplast genomes of the six medicinal plants. In
addition, phylogenetic analysis of these and other 53 Polygonatum
chloroplast genomes showed that P. cyrtonema, P. odoratum and P. filipes
were clustered on one large clade, whereas P. kingianum and P.
zanlanscianense were clustered on other clades. P. sibiricum is a
monophyletic group and our tree supports the classification of P.
sibiricum as an independent clade. This study provides a novel basis for
intragenus taxonomy and DNA barcoding molecular identification within
the genus Polygonatum medicinal plants.