AUTHOR=Gao Chengwen , Wu Chuanhong , Zhang Qian , Zhao Xia , Wu Mingxuan , Chen Ruirui , Zhao Yalin , Li Zhiqiang 

TITLE=Characterization of Chloroplast Genomes From Two Salvia Medicinal Plants and Gene Transfer Among Their Mitochondrial and Chloroplast Genomes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.574962

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2020.574962

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Salvia</italic> species have been widely used as medicinal plants and have played an important role in the treatment and recovery of individuals with COVID-19. In this study, we reported two newly identified whole chloroplast genome sequences of <italic>Salvia</italic> medicinal plants (<italic>Salvia yangii</italic> and <italic>Salvia miltiorrhiza</italic> f. <italic>alba</italic>) and compared them with those of seven other reported <italic>Salvia</italic> chloroplast genomes. These were proven to be highly similar in terms of overall size, genome structure, gene content, and gene order. We identified 10 mutation hot spots (<italic>trnK-rps16</italic>, <italic>atpH-atpI</italic>, <italic>psaA-ycf3</italic>, <italic>ndhC-trnV</italic>, <italic>ndhF</italic>, <italic>rpl32-trnL</italic>, <italic>ndhG-ndhI</italic>, <italic>rps15-ycf1</italic>, <italic>ycf1a</italic>, and <italic>ycf1b</italic>) as candidate DNA barcodes for <italic>Salvia</italic>. Additionally, we observed the transfer of nine large-sized chloroplast genome fragments, with a total size of 49,895 bp (accounting for 32.97% of the chloroplast genome), into the mitochondrial genome as they shared &gt;97% sequence similarity. Phylogenetic analyses of the whole chloroplast genome provided a high resolution of <italic>Salvia</italic>. This study will pave the way for the identification and breeding of <italic>Salvia</italic> medicinal plants and further phylogenetic evolutionary research on them as well.</p>