The Chloroplast Genome of Symplocarpus renifolius: A Comparison of Chloroplast Genome Structure in Araceae.

Kyoung Su Choi,Seonjoo Park,Kyu Tae Park

doi:10.3390/genes8110324

Abstract

Symplocarpus renifolius is a member of Araceae family that is extraordinarily diverse in appearance. Previous studies on chloroplast genomes in Araceae were focused on duckweeds (Lemnoideae) and root crops (Colocasia, commonly known as taro). Here, we determined the chloroplast genome of Symplocarpus renifolius and compared the factors, such as genes and inverted repeat (IR) junctions and performed phylogenetic analysis using other Araceae species. The chloroplast genome of S. renifolius is 158,521 bp and includes 113 genes. A comparison among the Araceae chloroplast genomes showed that infA in Lemna, Spirodela, Wolffiella, Wolffia, Dieffenbachia and Colocasia has been lost or has become a pseudogene and has only been retained in Symplocarpus. In the Araceae chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), psbZ is retained. However, psbZ duplication occurred in Wolffia species and tandem repeats were noted around the duplication regions. A comparison of the IR junction in Araceae species revealed the presence of ycf1 and rps15 in the small single copy region, whereas duckweed species contained ycf1 and rps15 in the IR region. The phylogenetic analyses of the chloroplast genomes revealed that Symplocarpus are a basal group and are sister to the other Araceae species. Consequently, infA deletion or pseudogene events in Araceae occurred after the divergence of Symplocarpus and aquatic plants (duckweeds) in Araceae and duplication events of rps15 and ycf1 occurred in the IR region.

Highlights

The family Araceae consists of approximately 102 genera and 3300 species and is one of most structurally diverse groups of monocots
The cp genome of S. renifolius (GenBank accession number KY039276) is 158,521 bp in length (Figure 1). It includes two inverted repeat regions (IRA and IRB ) of 25,801 bp separated by large single-copy (LSC) and small single-copy (SSC)
RNA genes, 30 were transfer RNA genes, 78 genes were protein coding genes and 17 genes located in the IR regions were duplicated

Summary

Introduction

The family Araceae consists of approximately 102 genera and 3300 species and is one of most structurally diverse groups of monocots. This family is widely distributed in all the continents, except Antarctica. The Lemnoideae subfamily (duckweeds) within Araceae displays diverse morphological traits, habits and life forms [1,2,3]. The earliest modern classification of Araceae was given in 1860 by Schott [4] and Engler [5,6]. They classified Araceae according to the vegetable morphology and anatomy. The taxonomic relationships among some species have not been resolved, for example, among the members of Aroideae subfamily [2,3,7,8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion