The first complete chloroplast genome of Pontederia cordata (Pontederiaceae)

Abstract

The order Commelinales comprises many species with important economic and ecological values and represents a striking case of morphologically convergent evolution in monocots. However, so far the genomic resources of species within Commelinales are limited and the deep level phylogeny of Commelinales has not been well resolved. Here we reported and characterized the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Pontederia cordata and analysed the phylogenomic relationship of Commelinids based on complete cp sequences. The complete cp genome of P. cordata is 162,234 bp in length with a typical quadripartite structure. The overall GC content is 36.2%. A total of 124 genes were annotated, including 85 encoding genes, 38 transfer RNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. The inverted repeat regions contain six CDSs, eight tRNA genes and all the four rRNA genes. Phylogenetic study validated the phylogenetic position of P cordata and showed that the three species from Commelinales form a monophyletic group sister to Zingiberales with high support rate. Meanwhile, species from Zingiberales and Commelinale form a molophyletic group sister to the Poales clade.

Keywords

• commelinales
• pontederia cordata
• chloroplast genome
• phylogeny