A Comparative Analysis of the Chloroplast Genomes of Three Lonicera Medicinal Plants

Abstract

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.

Comparitive Analysis of the Chloroplast Genomes of Eight Species of the Genus Lirianthe Spach

“…Early differentiated lineages, like those found in the Magnoliaceae, have a greater GC content [31]. Compared to the median GC content of 35% in most angiosperms, Houpoea plants have a higher GC content of around 39.2% [32], which is almost identical to the GC content of 39.3% in the Lirianthe species in this study. The GC content in the IR region of all Lirianthe species is notably high (43.2%), aligning increasingly conducted using chloroplast genome-scale data, with similar findings in other plants like Carthamus (43.2%) [33] and Cypripedium (42.7%) [34], potentially due to the inclusion of four highly conserved rRNA genes with high GC content (Figure 1).…”

“…SSR markers have been widely used in population genetics research due to their reliability and high variability. In this study, a small amount of SSR markers were detected, with about 170 in Houpoea species [32] and 246 in Bougainvillea spectabilis [35], while our findings indicated only 42～49 SSRs. The primary explanation is the use of different search parameters, as Carthamus species can only recognize 36-40 SSRs [33] when same parameters (1-10 2-6 3-5 4-5 5-5 6-5) are applied.…”

“…The analysis of CPG DNA polymorphism is a proven approach to detect mutation hotspots, which can function as distinct DNA barcodes. Two of the 10 genes or DNA segments with the highest, assessment of nucleotide diversity detected in this study, rpl32-trnL and petA-psbJ, are also present in the genus Houpoea [32], which also belongs to the Magnoliaceae family. The trnH-psbA is one of the early recommended plant DNA barcodes [37] and was also the second most polymorphic fragment in this study.…”

Discrimination and characterization of volatile organic compounds in Lonicerae Japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos using multivariate statistics combined with headspace gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry and headspace solid‐phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry techniques

“…LJF holds a prominent position as a mainstream medicinal herb within the herb market. Significantly, LJF occupies a main role as the principal medicinal material in formula like Lianhua Qingwen Capsule, a prominent antiviral remedy amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic 8,9 . In contrast, LF is more likely for local use.…”

“…Significantly, LJF occupies a main role as the principal medicinal material in formula like Lianhua Qingwen Capsule, a prominent antiviral remedy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 8,9 In contrast, LF is more likely for local use. The correlation between the modern and traditional applications of LJF remains ambiguous.…”