International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Complete Chloroplast Genomes and Comparative Analysis of Sequences Evolution among Seven Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae) Medicinal Species Xiaoqin Li 1,2,3 , Yunjuan Zuo 1 , Xinxin Zhu 4, Shuai Liao 5 and Jinshuang Ma 1,* 1 Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai 201602, China;
[email protected] (X.L.);
[email protected] (Y.Z.) 2 Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, China 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, China 4 College of Life Sciences, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, Henan, China;
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[email protected]; Tel.: 86-21-6765-7816 Received: 18 January 2019; Accepted: 21 February 2019; Published: 28 February 2019 Abstract: Aristolochiaceae, comprising about 600 species, is a unique plant family containing aristolochic acids (AAs). In this study, we sequenced seven species of Aristolochia, and retrieved eleven chloroplast (cp) genomes published for comparative genomics analysis and phylogenetic constructions. The results show that the cp genomes had a typical quadripartite structure with conserved genome arrangement and moderate divergence. The cp genomes range from 159,308 bp to 160,520 bp in length and have a similar GC content of 38.5%–38.9%. A total number of 113 genes were identified, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNAs and four rRNAs. Although genomic structure and size were highly conserved, the IR-SC boundary regions were variable between these seven cp genomes.