ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Systematics and Evolution
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1569683
Comparative and phylogenetic analysis of complete chloroplast genomes of Phrynium s. s. and Stachyphrynium (Marantaceae) in China, including a new species
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Pharmaceutical Science, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, China
- 3The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
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Plants of the genera Phrynium and Stachyphrynium traditionally used as ethnomedicine or for wrapping sticky rice dumpling in the tropical and south subtropical Asia, have a long history of ethnobotanical use. China represents the northernmost distribution of Marantaceae in Asia. Due to the notably similar leaf morphology between these genera, herbarium specimens are frequently misidentified, especially during the vegetative stages. Their morphological uniformity and unclear interspecific genetic relationships pose significant challenges to taxonomic classification and species identification. To date, systematic taxonomic revisions and phylogeny of their indigenous species remain lacking. In this study, we conducted comparative chloroplast genomes analyses of seven Phrynium and two Stachyphrynium species in China. The chloroplast genomes exhibited conserved structure, gene content, gene order and codon usage bias, but diverged in genomes size and the SC/IR boundaries. Four variable regions were identified as potential molecular markers for species identification. Phylogenetic analyses using CDS and nrDNA strongly support Phrynium and Stachyphrynium in China as two distinct monophyletic groups, with Phrynium subdivided into two clades. These findings advance our understanding of their molecular relationships and provide critical insights for identification, utilization, and conservation as medicinal plants. Finally, we describe and illustrate the new species Phrynium pyramidale Y. Tong & Z. Y. Lin.
Keywords: Phrynium, Stachyphrynium, Chloroplast genome, Nuclear ribosomal DNA, phylogenomic analysis, Phrynium pyramidale
Received: 01 Feb 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Fan, Lan, Fu, Xu and Tong. 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: Yi Tong, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 51006, Guangdong Province, China
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