Both Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae similis flos are important components in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with precious medicinal value. However, the absence of studies on their chloroplast genomes and chromatography has considerably hindered the study of their evolutionary and phylogenetic relationships. In this study, the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of Lonicera acuminata Wall. and Lonicera similis Hemsl. were sequenced using the Illumina sequencing platform and compared with that of Lonicera japonica Thunb., which has been previously reported. Furthermore, the chromatographic fingerprints of the three plants were constructed using HPLC and the content of quality marker (Q-Marker) was calculated. The annotation results showed that the two chloroplast genomes were typical quadripartite structures with lengths of 155,330 bp (L. acuminata) and 155,207 bp (L. similis). A total of 126 different genes were annotated, containing 82 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The expansion and contraction of the inverted repeat (IR) regions suggested that the boundary regions of IR/SC were comparatively conserved in the three species, and six regions (trnH-GUG-psbA, rps2-rpoC2, rbcL-psaI, trnN-GUU-ndhF, rps15-ycf1, and infA) with nucleotide diversity values (Pi) of variable sites higher than 1% were identified. Phylogenetic relation indicated that L. similis had a closer genetic relationship with L. japonica than L. acuminata. Additionally, the chromatographic fingerprints showed that the characteristic peaks of the three medicinal plants were similar, including Neochlorogenic acid, Chlorogenic acid, 4-Dicaffeoylquinic acid, Sweroside, Secoxyloganin, Luteoloside, Isochlorogenic acid A, Isochlorogenic acid B, and Isochlorogenic acid C. The content of chlorogenic acid and total phenolic acid in L. acuminata (7.4633 ± 0.4461%, 14.8953 ± 0.0728%) and L. similis (14.1055 ± 0.2566%, 21.9782 ± 0.1331%) was much higher than that of L. japonica (3.9729 ± 0.0928%, 6.0964 ± 0.1228%), respectively. This study provides appropriate information for species identification, phylogeny, quality assessment, and rational use of three medicinal plants of the genus Lonicera.

Lonicera pampaninii Levl, a Chinese herbal medicine widely used in the folk, has the effect of clearing away heat and detoxifying similar to other plants of the Lonicera. However, its genetic relationship with these plants is unclear. In this work, the cp genome of Lonicera pampaninii Levl. was assembled by the high-throughput Illumina pair-end sequencing data. The circular cp genome is 155,249 bp in size, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 89,068 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,635 bp, which were separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions (23,773 bp each). A total of 120 genes were predicted, including eight ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), 33 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), and 79 protein-coding genes (PCGs). Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis revealed a strong sister relationship between L. pampaninii and other two congeneric species (Lonicera confusa and Lonicera japonica). This study provides useful information for future genetic study of L. pampaninii.

Lonicera similis Hemsl. belongs to the Caprifoliaceae family and used as a substitute for 'jin yin hua'. Recent years, it demonstrates great economic value because of its rich chemical composition. However, the phylogenetic relationship between L. similis and other family members remains unclear. In this paper, we assembled the cp genome of L. similis using the high-throughput Illumina pair-end sequencing data. The circular cp genome was 155,207 bp in size, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 88994 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,633 bp, which were separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions (23,790 bp each). A total of 121 genes were predicted, including eight ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), 36 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), and 77 protein-coding genes (PCGs). In addition, the result of phylogenetic analysis indicated that L. similis formed a close relationship from another congeneric species (Lonicera confusa). This study provides helpful information for future genetic study of L. similis.

Aoria nigripes (Baly, 1860) is one of the main pests of grapes, mainly damaging leaves, petioles and shoots and seriously affecting plant growth and development. Recently, this pest was found to damage the leaves of Ampelopsis grossedentata, Ampelopsis megalophylla, Ampelopsis chaffanjonii and Ampelopsis cantoniensis. However, the phylogenetic relationships of A. nigripes and other related family members are unclear. In this study, we sequenced and analysed the complete mitogenome of A. nigripes for the first time. The mitogenome of A. nigripes is circular and 17,306 bp in size, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) and two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs). The base composition of the A. nigripes mitogenome is 41.70% A, 33.76% T, 9.01% G and 15.53% C. The phylogenetic analysis showed that A. nigripes was clustered together with Basilepta fulvipes and Colasposoma dauricum.

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