ABSTRACT
As two original plants of Tibetan herb Jieji, Gentiana waltonii Burk. and Gentiana lhassica Burk. belong to Section Cruciata of Gentiana, Gentianaceae. Here, we report on whole chloroplast genome sequences in the alpine species, respectively, and the features of plastomes were investigated. The plastome of G. waltonii is 148 705 bp long (148 652 bp in G. lhassica) and encodes 112 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. Two pseudogenes, namely ψrps16 and ψinfA, were found in plastomes. In addition, two novel loci were detected, and a species-specific polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for differentiating G. waltonii and G. lhassica from 10 alpine species in Section Cruciata. Gentiana. Our study provides basic data for identifying Tibetan herbs, alpine species conservation and molecular phylogenetic studies of Gentiana and Gentianaceae.
ABSTRACT
The family Gentianaceae are found mostly on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, which have important medicinal properties. Based on 27 published complete chloroplast genome sequences from Gentiana, Swertia, Halenia, Menyanthes, and Nymphoides of Gentianaceae, the chloroplast genome structure was analyzed. The cp genome sizes of 27 taxa range from 137 to 154 kb, and they contain 101-114 unique genes, including 67-80 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and four rRNA genes. Also, a Bayesian phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the 27 cp genome sequences with Pentalinon luteum (Apocynaceae) as the outgroup. The tree was topologically consistent with the treatments of traditional taxonomy, and the cp genome sequences have genus- or section-level resolution. In addition, we reviewed the significance of species identification within the family. These cp genome sequences could provide basic data for the endangered species conservation, the genetic analysis and pharmacognostic researches of herbs from Gentianaceae.