Complete chloroplast genome sequence of Amomum villosum and comparative analysis with other Zingiberaceae plants

OBJECTIVE: Amomum villosum (AV) is an herb whose dried fruit has been extensively used in modern medicine to treat digestive system diseases such as dysentery, vomiting and abdominal pain. This paper aims to supplement chloroplast (cp) genomic resources and to be used in phylogenetic studies and identification of AV related plants. METHODS: High-throughput sequencing technology was used to determine the complete sequence of the AV cp genome, and the sequence was then compared with three related species. RESULTS: The genome size of AV we obtained was 163,968 bp with an obvious tetrad structure. The AV cp genome was observed to contain 125 unique genes and 81 simple sequence repeat (SSRs) had been determined and the majority of which were adenine–thymine (AT)-rich. Comparative analysis of genome sequence of four ginger plants showed that the atpF, clpP and rpl32 genes are potential markers for identifying Amomum species. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that AV was closely related to A. kravanh and A. compactum. CONCLUSION: These results have brought useful genetic resources for further identification researches, DNA barcoding, resolving taxonomy and understanding the evolutionary mode of Zingiberaceae cp genome.