Evolution of Rosaceae chloroplast genomes highlights unique Cerasus diversification and independent origins of fruit cherry

Rosaceae plants comprise numerous fruit crops with huge economic values. The lack of genomic characteristics has largely blocked our understanding about the Rosaceae gene and plastome evolution. Here, we analyzed 121 Rosaceae chloroplast (cp) genomes of 51 taxa from 19 genera, predominantly including the Cerasus plants and their relatives. To our knowledge, we generated the first comprehensive map of genomic variation across Rosaceae plastomes. Protein-coding genes of Rosaceae plastomes were characterized with high proportion (over 50%) of synonymous variants and InDels with multiple triplets. Four photosynthesis-related genes were under Darwin selection, which are unique in woody fruit trees of Rosaceae. We detected considerable variations in genome size among Rosaceae plastomes and observed trivial and obvious structural variation in the examined cp genomes of tribes Pyrodae and Amygdaleae. Phylogenomic analyses and molecular dating highlighted the independent evolution of true cherry...