The complete chloroplast genome sequences of three Pedicularis species (Orobanchaceae)

Pedicularis L., a generally bothersome genus of hemiparasitic plants, is primarily native to southwestern China. The phylogenetic relationship and evolutionary history of this genus have not yet been fully resolved. In this study, we sequenced and assembled chloroplast genomes of three Pedicularis species, P. chinensis, P. melampyriflora, and P. striata using high-throughput Illumina sequencing. The assembled plastomes were 142,059 bp (P. chinensis) to 152,146 bp (P. striata) in size, containing 110 (P. chinensis) to 117 (P. striata) genes. Moreover, we identified 13-15 pseudogenes within the three plastomes, nine of which were pseudogenized in all three species. The three plastomes exhibited a similar codon usage pattern. Moreover, the plastomes contained abundant simple sequence repeats and long repeats, which showed slight variations between the three species. A maximum likelihood analysis was performed to elucidate the phylogenetic positions of the three species within the Pedicularis genus. The plastomes presented in our study can be used as valuable genomic resources for further genetic and genomic studies of the Pedicularis genus.