Phylogenetic relationship and characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Rhododendron przewalskii subsp. przewalskii Maximowicz 1877, an ornamental and medicinal plant in China

• Published in: Mitochondrial DNA. Part B. Resources
• Main Authors: Tao Wang, Chuyu Tang, Jianbo Chen, Zhengfei Cao, Hui He, Yuling Li, Xiuzhang Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-09-01
• Subjects: rhododendron przewalskii subsp. przewalskii; chloroplast genome; phylogenetic analysis; ericaceae
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2023.2259040

As one of the top 10 famous flowers in Chinese tradition, Rhododendron przewalskii subsp. przewalskii known as ‘beauty in flowers,’ which has high ornamental and medicinal value. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of R. przewalskii subsp. przewalskii was determined in this study. The complete chloroplast genome of R. przewalskii subsp. przewalskii was 201,233 bp in length and contained a large single-copy region (LSC, 108,077 bp), and a small single-copy region (SSC, 2624 bp) and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, 45,266 bp). A total of 142 functional genes were observed in this cp genome, including 91 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 43 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and eight ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs). The R. przewalskii subsp. przewalskii cp genome has an A + T content of 64.06% and presents a positive AT-skew (0.53%) and a negative GC-skew (−1.56%). The maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated nucleotide sequences of 13 PCGs strongly supported the monophyletic relationship of R. przewalskii subsp. przewalskii the clade of R. henanense subsp. lingbaoense. This study provides genomic evidence for the vegetation classification of Rhododendron.