Comparative analysis of complete chloroplast genome sequences of four major Amorphophallus species

In this study, we first sequenced the complete cp genomes of four major Amorphophallus species using high-throughput sequencing technology based on the Illumina Hiseq 2500 platform. This study had four aims: (1) determine the size range and structure of four Amorphophallus species cp genomes; (2) compare the variations of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) among four major Amorphophallus cp genomes; (3) examine the indels and SNPs among four major Amorphophallus cp genomes; (4) confirm the phylogenetic relationship among four Amorphophallus species as well as other species using the complete cp genomes. These results will provide valuable and basic sequence information for taxonomic study and developing molecular makers for further species identification of Amorphophallus. After the completion of the whole cp genome sequence, it is possible to build a database of the species. Based on the differences in the gene sequences of the four cp genomes, a DNA barcode can easily be developed to allow for the building of an efficient platform for postgenomics species research, such as subsequent gene excavation and functional verification of DNA sequence information.