Cheng Xin, Shi Chengcheng, Yang Ting, Ge Qijin, Kress W John, Liu Xin
College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
BGI Research, Beijing, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Jan 16;15:1535549. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1535549. eCollection 2024.
, a genus within the Zingiberales order, is renowned for its diverse morphology, suggesting a rich genetic reservoir. However, genetic research on plants within the family has primarily focused on taxonomy and phylogenetics, with limited exploration into other genetic aspects, particularly the chloroplast genome. Given the significance of chloroplast genomes in evolutionary studies, a deeper understanding of their structure and diversity within Heliconia is essential.
In this study, we sequenced and assembled the complete chloroplast genomes of four representative Heliconia species: , and . The chloroplast genomes were analyzed for structure, gene content, and nucleotide diversity. We also performed comparative analysis with other species within the Zingiberales order to investigate structural and functional differences.
The assembled chloroplast genomes of the four Heliconia species exhibited a typical quadripartite structure and ranged in length from 161,680 bp to 161,913 bp. All genomes contained 86 protein-coding genes. Comparative analysis revealed that the chloroplast genome structures of the different Heliconia species were highly conserved, with minor variations. Notably, the chloroplast genome of Heliconia was slightly shorter than those of other Zingiberales species, primarily due to the reduced length of the inverted repeat region. In terms of nucleotide diversity, Heliconia species exhibited lower diversity in their chloroplast genomes compared to other families within the Zingiberales order.
This study provides valuable insights into the conserved nature of the chloroplast genome in Heliconia. The reduced chloroplast genome size, particularly the shortened inverted repeat region, marks a distinct feature of Heliconia within the Zingiberales family. Our findings also underscore the low nucleotide diversity within the chloroplast genomes of Heliconia species, which could be indicative of their evolutionary history and limited genetic differentiation. These results contribute to a broader understanding of chloroplast genome evolution in the Zingiberales and offer important genetic resources for future research on Heliconia and related species.
蝎尾蕉属是姜目下的一个属，以其多样的形态而闻名，这表明其拥有丰富的基因库。然而，对蝎尾蕉科植物的基因研究主要集中在分类学和系统发育学上，对其他基因方面的探索有限，尤其是叶绿体基因组。鉴于叶绿体基因组在进化研究中的重要性，深入了解蝎尾蕉属植物叶绿体基因组的结构和多样性至关重要。
在本研究中，我们对四种具有代表性的蝎尾蕉属植物的叶绿体基因组进行了测序和组装，这四种植物分别是[具体植物名称1]、[具体植物名称2]、[具体植物名称3]和[具体植物名称4]。对叶绿体基因组的结构、基因含量和核苷酸多样性进行了分析。我们还与姜目下的其他物种进行了比较分析，以研究结构和功能上的差异。
四种蝎尾蕉属植物组装后的叶绿体基因组呈现出典型的四分体结构，长度在161,680碱基对至161,913碱基对之间。所有基因组包含86个蛋白质编码基因。比较分析表明，不同蝎尾蕉属植物的叶绿体基因组结构高度保守，仅有微小差异。值得注意的是，蝎尾蕉属植物的叶绿体基因组比姜目下其他物种的略短，主要是由于反向重复区域长度的缩短。在核苷酸多样性方面，蝎尾蕉属植物叶绿体基因组的多样性低于姜目下的其他科。
本研究为蝎尾蕉属植物叶绿体基因组的保守性质提供了有价值的见解。叶绿体基因组大小的减小，尤其是反向重复区域的缩短，是蝎尾蕉属在姜科中的一个显著特征。我们的研究结果还强调了蝎尾蕉属植物叶绿体基因组中核苷酸多样性较低，这可能表明它们的进化历史和有限的遗传分化。这些结果有助于更广泛地理解姜目叶绿体基因组的进化，并为蝎尾蕉属及相关物种未来的研究提供重要的遗传资源。
