Structure and phylogenetic analysis of the Pseudotaxus chienii (W. C. Cheng) W. C. Cheng chloroplast genome

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Pseudotaxus chienii (W. C. Cheng) W. C. Cheng was determined in this study. Gene content, genome structure, and repeat sequences were also analyzed. Results revealed that the chloroplast genome did not contain typical inverted repeats. The genome was 130 427 bp in length, containing 83 protein coding, four rRNA, and 29 tRNA genes. Forty-four simple sequence repeat loci and 13 tandem repeats were identified in the chloroplast genome of P. chienii. Phylogenetic analysis supported Taxaceae as sister to Cephalotaxaceae. Within Taxaceae, Pseudotaxus and Taxus formed a monophyletic group, while Torreya and Amentotaxus clustered together. The alignment of eight Taxaceae species showed that the chloroplast genome organization of P. chienii was highly similar to that of Taxus, while rearrangement also existed between different genera of Taxaceae. Thus, these results indicate that chloroplast genome data can better solve the phylogenetic relationships of Taxus plants.