Plastid Genomes of the Early Vascular Plant Genus Have Unusual Direct Repeat Structures and Drastically Reduced Gene Numbers.

The early vascular plants in the genus , which is the sole genus of the Selaginellaceae family, have an important place in evolutionary history, along with ferns, as such plants are valuable resources for deciphering plant evolution. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the plastid genome (plastome) sequences of two individuals, as well as and . Unlike the inverted repeat (IR) structures typically found in plant plastomes, species had direct repeat (DR) structures, which were confirmed by Oxford Nanopore long-read sequence assembly. Comparative analyses of 19 lycophytes, including two and one species, revealed unique phylogenetic relationships between species and related lycophytes, reflected by structural rearrangements involving two rounds of large inversions that resulted in dynamic changes between IR and DR blocks in the plastome sequence. Furthermore, we present other uncommon characteristics, including a small genome size, drastic reductions in gene and intron numbers, a high GC content, and extensive RNA editing. Although the 16 species examined may not fully represent the genus, our findings suggest that plastomes have undergone unique evolutionary events yielding genomic features unparalleled in other lycophytes, ferns, or seed plants.