Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences of Mongolia Medicine Artemisia frigida and Phylogenetic Relationships with Other Plants

Yue Liu,Naxin Huo,Yong Qiang Gu,Lingli Dong,Xiaoxiao Feng,Yi Wang,Hugh A Young,Shuixian Zhang,Jonathan H Badger

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057533

Abstract

Background Artemisia frigida Willd. is an important Mongolian traditional medicinal plant with pharmacological functions of stanch and detumescence. However, there is little sequence and genomic information available for Artemisia frigida, which makes phylogenetic identification, evolutionary studies, and genetic improvement of its value very difficult. We report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Artemisia frigida based on 454 pyrosequencing.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe complete chloroplast genome of Artemisia frigida is 151,076 bp including a large single copy (LSC) region of 82,740 bp, a small single copy (SSC) region of 18,394 bp and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 24,971 bp. The genome contains 114 unique genes and 18 duplicated genes. The chloroplast genome of Artemisia frigida contains a small 3.4 kb inversion within a large 23 kb inversion in the LSC region, a unique feature in Asteraceae. The gene order in the SSC region of Artemisia frigida is inverted compared with the other 6 Asteraceae species with the chloroplast genomes sequenced. This inversion is likely caused by an intramolecular recombination event only occurred in Artemisia frigida. The existence of rich SSR loci in the Artemisia frigida chloroplast genome provides a rare opportunity to study population genetics of this Mongolian medicinal plant. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates a sister relationship between Artemisia frigida and four other species in Asteraceae, including Ageratina adenophora, Helianthus annuus, Guizotia abyssinica and Lactuca sativa, based on 61 protein-coding sequences. Furthermore, Artemisia frigida was placed in the tribe Anthemideae in the subfamily Asteroideae (Asteraceae) based on ndhF and trnL-F sequence comparisons.ConclusionThe chloroplast genome sequence of Artemisia frigida was assembled and analyzed in this study, representing the first plastid genome sequenced in the Anthemideae tribe. This complete chloroplast genome sequence will be useful for molecular ecology and molecular phylogeny studies within Artemisia species and also within the Asteraceae family.

Highlights

Artemisia frigida Willd., named as ‘‘Agi’’ in the Mongolian language, is an important Mongolian traditional medicinal plant [1], distributed widely in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the northern part of China
Genomic DNA of Artemisia frigida was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing technology and the complete chloroplast genome was identified and annotated. This is the first cp genome sequenced in the Anthemideae tribe within the Asteraceae family
We found that most Asteraceae species have an inverted small single copy (SSC) region in comparison with the unaltered tobacco cp genome

Summary

Introduction

Artemisia frigida Willd., named as ‘‘Agi’’ in the Mongolian language, is an important Mongolian traditional medicinal plant [1], distributed widely in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the northern part of China. This plant has medicinal application for stanch and detumescence, so it is often used to care for bleeding, arthroncus, rheumatism, menoxenia, and other ailments [1]. There is a clear need to develop genomic resources for Artemisia frigida in order to efficiently apply molecular and biotechnological approaches for the improvement of its value as an important medicinal plant. There is little sequence and genomic information available for Artemisia frigida, which makes phylogenetic identification, evolutionary studies, and genetic improvement of its value very difficult. We report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Artemisia frigida based on 454 pyrosequencing

Methods

Results

Conclusion