Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (3): 240-254.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2024-0753

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Chloroplast Genome Characteristics and Phylogenetic Analysis of Scrophulariaceae

LI Bin1,2(), SU Xiang-ping1,3, LIU Chang1, WANG Yu-bing1, ZHANG Yong-hong4, ZHOU Chao1(), XU Qing2()   

  1. 1.College of Biological & Pharmaceutical Sciences, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002
    2.Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy & College of Basic Medical Science, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002
    3.Hangzhou Zhongce Vocational School Qiantang, Hangzhou 310000
    4.School of Basic Medicine, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan 442000
  • Received:2024-08-06 Online:2025-03-26 Published:2025-03-20
  • Contact: ZHOU Chao, XU Qing E-mail:bli@ctgu.edu.cn;zhouchao@ctgu.edu.cn;xuq@ctgu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective To explore the characteristics and phylogenetic relationships of chloroplast genome of the Scrophulariaceae. Method The chloroplast genomes of Hubei Scrophularia ningpoensis were sequenced, assembled, and annotated. Additionally, a total of 46 complete chloroplast genomes of Scrophulariaceae were downloaded from GenBank database for comparative analysis. Result The full length of the chloroplast genome in Scrophulariaceae ranges from 142 336 to 154 710 bp, with a GC content between 37.7% and 38.1%. The genome shows a typical quadripartite structure, comprising a large single copy region of 83 531 to 97 103 bp and a small single copy region of 17 375 to 18 600 bp, as well as an inverted repeat region spanning 13 497 to 25 695 bp. Comparative analysis of chloroplast gene composition within the Scrophulariaceae reveals evolutionary patterns of gene gain and loss. Collinearity analysis indicates that the genomic arrangement of the Scrophulariaceae chloroplast genome is relatively conserved, although instances of genome rearrangement events have also been observed. Analysis of long repeat sequences shows that the majority of the Scrophulariaceae chloroplast genome consists of forward repeats and palindromic repeats. Furthermore, simple repeat sequence analysis identified 117 to 156 SSR sites within the Scrophulariaceae chloroplast genome, with single nucleotides composed of A/T being the most frequent, accounting for 85.50% to 91.50% of the total. Relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis identified 25 optimal codons, the majority of which ended with A/U. Divergence time analysis suggests that the common ancestor of Scrophulariaceae and closely related species diverged approximately 70.5 million years ago (MYA) and formed a monophyletic branch around 52.4 MYA, with most species of Scrophulariaceae appearing nearly 50 MYA. Conclusion Although the chloroplast genomes of the Scrophulariaceae demonstrate similar structural characteristics, they have also experienced gene acquisition and loss as well as genome rearrangement events during their evolutionary history. A more refined phylogenetic tree of the Scrophulariaceae has been constructed based on the chloroplast genomes. Furthermore, the divergence time analysis indicates that the rapid diversification of Scrophulariaceae species mainly occurre around 50 million years ago.

Key words: Scrophulariaceae, chloroplast genome, sequence features, phylogenetic analysis