The complete chloroplast genome sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the Bichetii grass Chlorophytum laxum (Asparagaceae)

Abstract

Chlorophytum laxum of Asparagaceae is a valuable ornamental plant native to the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The plant also has medicinal properties and is used as source for folk medicine. Despite being commercially important, genetic studies of C. laxum are still limited. To expand the genomic information of this plant species, we sequenced, assembled, and characterized its complete chloroplast genome. The chloroplast genome was 153,678 bp in length, with a large single-copy region (83,225 bp) and a small single-copy region (18,031 bp) separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (26,211 bp each). A total of 127 genes were predicted, including 81 protein-coding, 38 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. The overall GC content was 37.3%. Based on current sampling size, phylogenetic analysis using the maximum likelihood based on the complete chloroplast genome sequence revealed that the relationship in Chlorophytum is well resolved; C. laxum was closely related to C. rhizopendulum.

Keywords

• Asparagales
• genetic resources
• next-generation sequencing
• ornamental plant
• phylogenomics
• plastome