The complete chloroplast genome of Meconopsis simplicifolia and its genetic comparison to other Meconopsis species

Abstract

Abstract M. simplicifolia, an endangered Chinese herb, possesses medicinal properties used in the treatment of various disorders. Despite its importance, there is a lack of genomic information available for M. simplicifolia, hindering our understanding of its molecular biology. Therefore, this study aimed to assemble and compare the chloroplast (cp) genome of M. simplicifolia with other reported Meconopsis cp genomes. The assembled M. simplicifoliaplastome spanned 152,772 bp and exhibited the typical quadripartite structure comprising large (LSC, 83,824 bp) and small (SSC, 17,646 bp) single-copy regions, separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs, 25,651 bp). Overall, 131 genes were predicted, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs. Additionally, 33 SSRs and 27 long repeat sequences were identified. The seven Meconopsis species shared conserved genomic features in terms of gene structure and gene order. However, a comparison of the IR boundaries of the seven Meconopsis cp genomes revealed minor differences at the IR/SC boundary regions. Interestingly, M. simplicifolia exhibited the loss of the rpl2 gene in the IRb region, which could be valuable for future plant classification research. A phylogenetic analysis including M. simplicifolia and eight other Meconopsis species indicated that M. simplicifolia clustered together with M. betonicifolia. The availability of the cp genome sequence ofM. simplicifolia is of utmost importance for understanding phylogenetic and evolutionary aspects at or above the Meconopsislevel. Comparative analysis of the cp genomes of Meconopsis species will facilitate species identification and enable selective breeding studies of these medicinal plants.