Characterization of the Complete Chloroplast Genome of Gaultheria nummularioides D.Don 1825 (Ericaceae)

Xiao-Juan Cheng; Yan-Ling Xu; Catherine M Bush; Yan-Jun Lin; Xin-Yu Du; Lu Lu

doi:10.12688/f1000research.127937.2

Characterization of the Complete Chloroplast Genome of Gaultheria nummularioides D.Don 1825 (Ericaceae)

F1000Res. 2023 Sep 4:11:1358. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.127937.2. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiao-Juan Cheng¹, Yan-Ling Xu¹, Catherine M Bush², Yan-Jun Lin¹, Xin-Yu Du³, Lu Lu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
² Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA.
³ Plant Germplasm and Genomics Center, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.

Abstract

Gaultheria nummularioides D.Don 1825 (Ericaceae) is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The complete chloroplast genome of G. nummularioides has been sequenced and assembled. The genome is 176,207 bp in total with one large single copy (LSC: 107,726 bp), one small single copy (SSC: 3,389 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb; each 32,546 bp). The chloroplast genome encoded a total of 110 unique genes; the GC content of these genes is 36.6%. The results based on phylogenetic analysis of the complete chloroplast genome suggests that G. nummularioides diverged later than G. praticola, the sister relationship between G. nummularioides and the clade comprising G. fragrantissima Wall. 1820 and G. hookeri C.B. Clarke 1882 was strongly supported. This study provides additional information on the genetic diversity of G. nummularioides, its closely related taxa, and further exploration of chloroplast genomes in the Ericaceae family.

Keywords: Ericaceae; Gaultheria nummularioides; plastid genome; phylogeny.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Ericaceae*
Gaultheria*
Genome, Chloroplast* / genetics
Phylogeny

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant number 31960080 and 42175139; the Scientific Research Fund Project of Yunnan Education Department under Grant number 2022Y197; the Program Innovative Research Team in Science and Technology in Yunnan Province under Grant number 202005AE160004.