Adaptive evolution and co-evolution of chloroplast genomes in Pteridaceae species occupying different habitats: overlapping residues are always highly mutated

BACKGROUND: The evolution of protein residues depends on the mutation rates of their encoding nucleotides, but it may also be affected by co-evolution with other residues. Chloroplasts function as environmental sensors, transforming fluctuating environmental signals into different physiological responses. We reasoned that habitat diversity may affect their rate and mode of evolution, which might be evidenced in the chloroplast genome. The Pteridaceae family of ferns occupy an unusually broad range of ecological niches, which provides an ideal system for analysis. RESULTS: We conducted adaptive evolution and intra-molecular co-evolution analyses of Pteridaceae chloroplast DNAs (cpDNAs). The results indicate that the residues undergoing adaptive evolution and co-evolution were mostly independent, with only a few residues being simultaneously involved in both processes, and these overlapping residues tend to exhibit high mutations. Additionally, our data showed that Pteridaceae chloroplast genes are under purifying selection. Regardless of whether we grouped species by lineage (which corresponded with ecological niches), we determined that positively selected residues mainly target photosynthetic genes. CONCLUSIONS: Our work provides evidence for the adaptive evolution of Pteridaceae cpDNAs, especially photosynthetic genes, to different habitats and sheds light on the adaptive evolution and co-evolution of proteins. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-023-04523-1.