The complete plastomes of seven Peucedanum plants: comparative and phylogenetic analyses for the Peucedanum genus.

Background: The Peucedanum genus is the backbone member of Apiaceae, with many economically and medically important plants. Although the previous studies on Peucedanum provide us with a good research basis, there are still unclear phylogenetic relationships and many taxonomic problems in Peucedanum, and a robust phylogenetic framework of this genus still has not been obtained, which severely hampers the improvement and revision of taxonomic system for this genus. The plastid genomes possessing more variable characters have potential for reconstructing a robust phylogeny in plants.

Results: In the current study, we newly sequenced and assembled seven Peucedanum plastid genomes. Together with five previously published plastid genomes of Peucedanum, we performed a comprehensively comparative analyses for this genus. Twelve Peucedanum plastomes were similar in terms of genome structure, codon bias, RNA editing sites, and SSRs, but varied in genome size, gene content and arrangement, and border of SC/IR. Fifteen mutation hotspot regions were identified among plastid genomes that can serve as candidate DNA barcodes for species identification in Peucedanum. Our phylogenetic analyses based on plastid genomes generated a phylogeny with high supports and resolutions for Peucedanum that robustly supported the non-monophyly of genus Peucedanum.

Conclusion: The plastid genomes of Peucedanum showed both conservation and diversity. The plastid genome data were efficient and powerful for improving the supports and resolutions of phylogeny for the complex Peucedanum genus. In summary, our study provides new sights into the plastid genome evolution, taxonomy, and phylogeny for Peucedanum species.