Comparative genomics of <i>Viola selkirkii</i> and <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i> (Violaceae)

Abstract

Chloroplast genomes of two morphologically similar species, <i><i>Viola</i> selkirkii</i> and <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i>, were compared. For this comparison, three individuals of <i>V. selkirkiii</i> from Ulleung-do Island (UE), Jeju-do Island (JJ), and Hwacheon-gun (HC) and one of <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i> from UE were collected. According to chloroplast genome sequencing of <i>V. selkirkiii</i> and <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i>, their genomes were found to contain 156,774–157,454 and 157,575 bp, respectively, and a total of 111 genes. In the comparison of the three <i>V. selkirkiii</i> individuals, <i>V. selkirkiii</i> obtained in UE was distinguished from those of the other regions of HC and JJ, and in the comparison of the three <i>V. selkirkiii</i> individuals and one <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i> individual, <i>V. selkirkiii</i> obtained from UE and <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i> were distinguished from the species in the other regions. In addition, a phylogenetic analysis revealed that 32 taxa of <i>Viola</i> formed a monophyletic group (bootstrap support [BS] = 100). The four <i>Viola</i> individuals used in this study (three <i>V. selkirkiii</i> and one <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i>) formed a monophyletic group (BS = 100), which was further divided into two subclades. One subclade comprised <i>V. selkirkiii</i> found in UE and <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i>, whereas the other subclade comprised <i>V. selkirkiii</i> found in HC and JJ. These results support the view of prior studies that <i>V. selkirkiii</i> growing in UE and <i>V. ulleungdoensis</i> are the same species.