Abstract:
Asparagus filicinus Ham. ex D. Don, an endangered plant species with both medicinal and ornamental value, has suffered severe population declines in the wild due to habitat degradation and overexploitation. We sequenced and assembled the complete chloroplast genome of A.
filicinus, obtaining a circular genome of 156 600 bp (GC content: 37.58%) comprising a large single-copy region, a small single-copy region, and two inverted repeats, measuring 84 869 bp, 18 623 bp, and 26 554 bp, respectively. Genome annotation identified 133 functional genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Repeat sequence analysis revealed 34 long repetitive sequences and 49 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. Codon usage bias analysis demonstrated that 28 out of 29 codons with relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) >1 terminated with A/U, with leucine being the most frequently utilized amino acid. Phylogenetic analysis based on chloroplast genome data indicated that A. filicinus shares the closest evolutionary relationship with
A. officinalis and
A. schoberioides, while strongly supporting the monophyly of the genus
Asparagus. This study provides the first systematic characterization of the chloroplast genome of
A. filicinus, offering critical molecular insights for species classification, genetic resource conservation, and phylogenetic studies within the
Asparagus genus.