Sequencing and Characterization of Chloroplast Genome of Veronica polita
1. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Qinghai Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xining 810099, Qinghai, China; 2. College of Ecological Environment and Resources, Qinghai Minzu University, Xining 810007, Qinghai, China; 3. Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of High-value Utilization of Characteristic Economic Plants, Xining 810007, Qinghai, China; 4. Tibetan Medical College, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China; 5. Tibetan Medicine Research Center, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China
Abstract：Veronica polita Fr. is an important Tibetan medicinal herb. Herein, the chloroplast genome of V. polita was sequenced based on high-throughput sequencing, and its basic characteristics were analyzed using bioinformatics methods. The phylogeny of V. polita was studied using the protein coding sequences of chlo-roplast genomes. The results were as follows: 1) The complete chloroplast genome of V. polita is 150 191 bp in length, with a GC content of 37.9%. The lengths of large single copy (LSC), small single copy (SSC) and inverted repeat (IR) regions are 81 847 bp, 17 414 bp and 25 456 bp, respectively; 2) The chloroplast genome contains 134 genes, including 88 protein coding genes (PCGs), 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 38 trans-port RNA (tRNA) genes, including 2 pseudogenes; 3) A total of 26 529 codons were detected in the chloro-plast genome. Among them, 32 types of single codons have relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) values less than 1, 30 types have RSCU values greater than 1, and 2 types have RSCU values equal to 1; 4) The IR boundary regions of Veronica are highly conservative, without obvious contraction or expansion; 5) Most varia-tions in chloroplast genomes of Veronica plants exist in intergenic regions; 6) V. polita is most closely related to V. persica. This study laid the foundation for species identification and genetic diversity research of the genus Veronica.
