Comparative Analysis of Plastome Sequences of Seven L. (Liliaceae Juss.) Species from Section Raamsd. Ex Zonn and Veldk.

L. is a genus of significant economic, environmental, and cultural importance in several parts of the world. The exact number of species in the genus remains uncertain due to inherent taxonomic challenges. We utilized next-generation sequencing technology to sequence and assemble the plastid genomes of seven species collected in Kazakhstan and conducted a comparative analysis. The total number of annotated genes was 136 in all seven studied species, 114 of which were unique, including 80 protein-coding, 30 tRNA, and 4 rRNA genes. Nine regions (, , , , , , , , and ) demonstrated significant nucleotide variability, suggesting their potential as molecular markers. A total of 1388 SSRs were identified in the seven plastomes, with mononucleotide repeats being the most abundant (60.09%), followed by dinucleotide (34.44%), tetranucleotide (3.90%), trinucleotide (1.08%), pentanucleotide (0.22%), and hexanucleotide (0.29%). The Ka/Ks values of the protein-coding genes ranged from 0 to 3.9286, with the majority showing values <1. Phylogenetic analysis based on a complete plastid genome and protein-coding gene sequences divided the species into three major clades corresponding to their subgenera. The results obtained in this study may contribute to understanding the phylogenetic relationships and molecular taxonomy of species.