Assembly and Comparative Analysis of Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of Endangered Medicinal Plant .

Plant mitochondrial genomes exhibit extensive size variability and structural complexity. Here, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of , an endemic medicinal plant from the Western Ghats. The mitochondrial genome was assembled using a combination of Illumina short-read and PacBio long-read sequencing technologies, followed by extensive annotation and comparative analysis. The circular mitogenome spans 709,127 bp with a GC content of 46%, encoding 32 protein-coding genes, 17 tRNAs, and three rRNAs. Comparative analysis with other monocot mitochondrial genomes revealed conserved gene clusters but also significant lineage-specific rearrangements. Despite genome size similarities, displayed marked divergence in gene order, suggesting that genome size does not necessarily correlate with structural conservation. The genome contains 6.7% chloroplast-derived sequences and 324 predicted RNA-editing sites, predominantly in the first and second codon positions. Phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial genes placed as a distinct lineage within Dioscoreales, supporting its evolutionary uniqueness. This work provides the first mitogenomic resource for Dioscoreales and advances our understanding of mitochondrial diversity and evolution in monocots.