Abstract
Abutilon fruticosum is one of the endemic plants with high medicinal and economic value in Saudi Arabia and belongs to the family Malvaceae. However, the plastome sequence and phylogenetic position have not been reported until this study. In this research, the complete chloroplast genome of A. fruticosum was sequenced and assembled, and comparative and phylogenetic analyses within the Malvaceae family were conducted. The chloroplast genome (cp genome) has a circular and quadripartite structure with a total length of 160,357 bp and contains 114 unique genes (80 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and 4 rRNA genes). The repeat analyses indicate that all the types of repeats (palindromic, complement, forward and reverse) were present in the genome, with palindromic occurring more frequently. A total number of 212 microsatellites were identified in the plastome, of which the majority are mononucleotides. Comparative analyses with other species of Malvaceae indicate a high level of resemblance in gene content and structural organization and a significant level of variation in the position of genes in single copy and inverted repeat borders. The analyses also reveal variable hotspots in the genomes that can serve as barcodes and tools for inferring phylogenetic relationships in the family: the regions include trnH-psbA, trnK-rps16, psbI-trnS, atpH-atpI, trnT-trnL, matK, ycf1 and ndhH. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that A. fruticosum is closely related to Althaea officinalis, which disagrees with the previous systematic position of the species. This study provides insights into the systematic position of A. fruticosum and valuable resources for further phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of the species and the Malvaceae family to resolve ambiguous issues within the taxa.
Highlights
The genus Abutilon Mill. [1,2], whose members are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions [3], is considered as one of the largest genera of Malvaceae [4,5], with ca. 200 accepted species in all continents except Antarctica [3]
Studies have shown that the complete chloroplast genome of angiosperms is highly conserved in content and structural organization; contraction and expansion do occur [24,25]
The ndhF gene is found on the IRb–small single copy (SSC) border of A. esculentus, S. szechuensis and T. populnea
Summary
The genus Abutilon Mill. [1,2], whose members are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions [3], is considered as one of the largest genera of Malvaceae [4,5], with ca. 200 accepted species in all continents except Antarctica [3]. The phylogenetic position of the genus is still not clear, and its complete chloroplast genome had not yet been reported until this study. The phylogenetic position of the species within the genus Abutilon and the family Malvaceae has not been reported. As the plant is of medicinal and economic importance, there is a need to report its plastome sequence for conservation purposes, for authentication and to resolve its systematic position. The genetic information in the chloroplast genome contains sufficient information for comparative analysis and studies of species diversification because of the presence of functional genes which have a vital role in plant cells [17]. Despite the importance of the plastome in modern taxonomy, only chloroplast genomes of few genera in the whole Malvaceae family have been reported. The features of the cp genomes were analyzed and compared with other Malvaceae species to provide resources for identification and evolutionary, phylogenetic and population genetics studies of the taxon
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