A Reevaluation of the Status of <i>Lilium nepalense</i> Based on Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences

Abstract

Lilium nepalense D. Don is an ornamental plant and exhibits high morphological variation across its distribution range in China. There is incongruence between different data sets for the status of it in Lilium. In this study, we reported a complete chloroplast genome of L. nepalense sampled in Hengduan Mountains, China. The whole chloroplast genome possessed a total length of 152,206 bp with typical circular structure, and contained a large single copy (LSC) of 81,854 bp and a small single copy (SSC) of 17,563 bp, which were separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRa/IRb) of 26,399 bp. The average GC content among the whole chloroplast genome sequence was 37%, and the GC content in LSC, SSC, IRs regions were 34.8%, 30.6%, and 42.5%, respectively. There were 135 genes detected from the whole chloroplast genome sequence, including 89 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs. Phylogenetic results using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods showed congruent results that L. nepalense together with the other two L. nepalense samples collected from different habitats formed a single branch, indicating a close relationship of L. nepalense with L. taliense belonging to the section Sinomartagon. This newly characterized chloroplast genome will provide essential data for the further population genetics research of L. nepalense.