ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Bioinformatics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1546449
This article is part of the Research TopicEvolutionary Dynamics, Functional Variation and Application of Plant Organellar GenomeView all 20 articles
Unraveling the Mitochondrial Genome of the Medicinal Chinese Motherwort (Leonurus japonicus, Lamiaceae): Structural Dynamics, Organelle-to-Nuclear Gene Transfer, and Evolutionary Implications
Provisionally accepted
Xinyu Bai1
Xiaoqun Wang1
Qing Liu1
Yuqing Feng1Yanbo Huang2Joongku Lee3
Goro Kokubugata4
Zhechen Qi1*
Xiaoling Yan5- 1Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Secondary Metabolism Regulation, School of Life Science and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
- 2Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, China
- 3Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejon, Republic of Korea
- 4Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- 5Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
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The mitochondrial genome plays a crucial role in plant evolution and adaptation. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the mitochondrial genome of Leonurus japonicus, a medicinal plant of significant pharmacological importance. The mitochondrial genome was assembled using long-read sequencing data. The results revealed a circular structure spanning 384,199 base pairs with a GC content of 45.1%. Annotation identified 35 unique protein-coding genes, along with tRNA and rRNA genes. Analysis of repeat elements uncovered numerous simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and dispersed repeats, indicative of genomic rearrangements and potential regulatory roles. Furthermore, integration of plastid-derived DNA fragments was observed, suggesting a dynamic exchange between organelle genomes. Synteny and phylogenetic analysis revealed extensive homologous recombination and close evolutionary relationships with species in the Lamiales. Additionally, RNA editing events were prevalent across protein-coding genes, with 408 potential C-to-U editing sites identified, implicating post-transcriptional regulation in mitochondrial gene expression. This study provides valuable insights into the structural, functional, and evolutionary dynamics of the L. japonicus mitochondrial genome, facilitating further research on plant genetics, organelle evolution, and molecular breeding strategies.
Keywords: Leonurus japonicus, Mitochondrial Genome, Repeat sequence, Synteny analysis, RNA Editing, Long-read sequencing, phylogenetic relationships, plastid-derived DNA
Received: 16 Dec 2024; Accepted: 08 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bai, Wang, Liu, Feng, Huang, Lee, Kokubugata, Qi and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhechen Qi, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Secondary Metabolism Regulation, School of Life Science and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
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