AUTHOR=Choi Kyoung Su , Chung Myong Gi , Park SeonJoo 

TITLE=The Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences of Three Veroniceae Species (Plantaginaceae): Comparative Analysis and Highly Divergent Regions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.00355

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2016.00355

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Previous studies of <italic>Veronica</italic> and related genera were weakly supported by molecular and paraphyletic taxa. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of <italic>Veronica nakaiana</italic> and the related species <italic>Veronica persica</italic> and <italic>Veronicastrum sibiricum.</italic> The chloroplast genome length of <italic>V. nakaiana, V. persica</italic>, and <italic>V. sibiricum</italic> ranged from 150,198 bp to 152,930 bp. A total of 112 genes comprising 79 protein coding genes, 29 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes were observed in three chloroplast genomes. The total number of SSRs was 48, 51, and 53 in <italic>V. nakaiana, V. persica</italic>, and <italic>V. sibiricum</italic>, respectively. Two SSRs (10 bp of AT and 12 bp of AATA) were observed in the same regions (<italic>rpoC2</italic> and <italic>ndhD</italic>) in three chloroplast genomes. A comparison of coding genes and non-coding regions between <italic>V. nakaiana</italic> and <italic>V. persica</italic> revealed divergent sites, with the greatest variation occurring <italic>petD</italic>-<italic>rpoA</italic> region. The complete chloroplast genome sequence information regarding the three Veroniceae will be helpful for elucidating Veroniceae phylogenetic relationships.</p>