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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Systematics and Evolution

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1564539

Comparative chloroplast genomes and phylogenetic analysis of six Periploca species from China provide insights into the distinction of members of this small medicinal genus

Provisionally accepted
Tian  ShuaiTian Shuai1Qianli  LiQianli Li2Jinlan  LongJinlan Long3Xiaoqi  JiangXiaoqi Jiang1Linling  WeiLinling Wei1Ning  DingNing Ding1Wei  ZhouWei Zhou4*Zhikun  WuZhikun Wu1*
  • 1Department of Pharmacy, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China, Guiyang, China
  • 2Chongqing Duoputai Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd, Chongqing, China, Chongqing, China
  • 3Sinopharm Group Tongjitang (Guizhou) Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd, Guiyang, China, Guiyang, China
  • 4Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China, Kunming, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The genus Periploca L. (Apocynaceae) comprises approximately 17 species worldwide and possesses considerable medicinal value. However, owing to morphological similarities in vegetative organs, specimens and living plants usually lacking flowers and fruits are difficult to determine to species level posing challenges for its proper medicinal utilization. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of five Periploca species (P. chrysantha, P. forrestii, P. calophylla, P. floribunda, and P. tsiangii). By combining the new data with the published cp genome of P. sepium and 22 additional Apocynaceae cp genomes from NCBI, we conducted a comparative analysis of all recognized Periploca species from China and their closely related taxa to elucidate their phylogenetic relationships. The cp genomes of Periploca exhibit a typical quadripartite structure, with lengths ranging from 153,513 to 154,140 bp and a GC content of 38.1–38.2%. These cp genomes encode 132 genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Single-nucleotide repeats (A/T) varied among the six species, with forward and palindromic repeats being the dominant long repeat types. We identified 60 long repeat sequences and 55–73 simple sequence repeats, with A/T repeats being the most abundant. Sequence conservation was highest at the SC/IR boundary, while the LSC and SSC regions contained the most highly variable regions. Ten highly variable regions (including trnK-UUU-rps16, rps16-trnQ-UUG-psbK, rpoB-trnC-GCA-petN, ycf3-trnS-GGA-rps4, trnT-UGU-trnL-UAA, ndhC-trnC-ACA, ycf1-ndhF, ndhF-rpl32, ndhA, and rps15-trnN-GUU) were identified based on nucleotide diversity and verified by Sanger sequencing, serving as potential molecular markers for the identification of Periploca and related genera. Phylogenetic analyses of the complete cp genome sequences successfully distinguished the six Periploca species and revealed the evolutionary relationships among them. These findings enrich the genetic resources for Periploca, providing insights into molecular identification and phylogeny, and fostering proper medicinal application.

Keywords: Periploca, Chloroplast genome, comparative analysis, phenotypic characteristics, Codon analysis, Molecular markers, molecular identification, phylogenetic analysis

Received: 21 Jan 2025; Accepted: 03 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Shuai, Li, Long, Jiang, Wei, Ding, Zhou and Wu. 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:
Wei Zhou, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China, Kunming, China
Zhikun Wu, Department of Pharmacy, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China, Guiyang, China

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