Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Complete Chloroplast Genome of Xanthopappus subacaulis (Asteraceae), an Endemic Species from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China

Ma Z.­L., Xu Sh.­Sh., Zhang Y., Caraballo­Ortiz M.A., Su X., Ren Zh.­M.

Xanthopappus subacaulis (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant endemic to the alpine meadows from the middle east region of the Qinghai­Tibet Plateau in China. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed its whole chloroplast (cp) genome using Next Generation Sequencing techniques, representing the first complete cp genome for the genus Xanthopappus. Our results show that the cp genome of X. su­bacaulis contains 153,297 base pairs (bp) with a relatively high A + T content (62.28 %) and has a standard quadripartite structure, where the large (LSC, 84,142 bp) and small (SSC, 18,769 bp) single copy regions are sepa­rated by two copies of inverted repeats (IRs, 25,193 bp each). The cp genome encoded a total of 131 genes of which 87 are protein­coding genes, 36 are tRNA genes and eight are rRNA genes. The majority (85) of these genes occur within the LSC region. When comparing these results with the previously published cp genome of a related taxon from Asteraceae (genus Arctium), both species share similar number and type of genes, and A + T content. In addition, a Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony phylogenetic analyses based on 33 chloroplast genomes of Asteraceae suggested that X. subacaulis forms an independent and well supported clade paraphyletic to all the other members within tribes Carduinae, Carlininae and Centaureinae of Asteraceae.

Key words: plastome assembly, Cirsium, Saussurea, Synurus, subfamily Carduoideae, tribe Carduinae, tribe Centaureinae, tribe Cynareae, tribe Carlininae

Tsitologiya i Genetika 2022, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 76-78

1. Key Laboratory of Medicinal Animal and Plant Resources in the Qinghai­Tibetan Plateau, School of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, 810008, China Key Laboratory of Physical Geography and Environmental Process in Qinghai Province, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, 810008, China
2. Natural History Research Center, Shanghai Natural History Museum, Branch of Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, Shanghai, 200041, China
3. Jing'an Association for Science & Technology, Shanghai, 200040, China

   Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 166, Washington, D.C. 200013­7012, USA

4. Key Laboratory of Education Ministry of Earth Surface Processes and Ecological Conservation of the Qinghai­Tibet Plateau, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, 810008, China
5. School of Life Sciences, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

E-mail: xusu8527972 126.com *; zmren sxu.edu.cn

Ma Z.­L., Xu Sh.­Sh., Zhang Y., Caraballo­Ortiz M.A., Su X., Ren Zh.­M. Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Complete Chloroplast Genome of Xanthopappus subacaulis (Asteraceae), an Endemic Species from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, Tsitol Genet., 2022, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 76-78.