*Article* **Complete Chloroplast Genomes and Comparative Analysis of Sequences Evolution among Seven** *Aristolochia* **(Aristolochiaceae) Medicinal Species**

#### **Xiaoqin Li 1,2,3, Yunjuan Zuo <sup>1</sup> , Xinxin Zhu <sup>4</sup> , Shuai Liao <sup>5</sup> and Jinshuang Ma 1,\***


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. The *trnH*-GUG genes, are one of major differences between the plastomes of the two subgenera *Siphisia* and *Aristolochia*. We analyzed the features of nucleotide substitutions, distribution of repeat sequences and simple sequences repeats (SSRs), positive selections in the cp genomes, and identified 16 hotspot regions for genomes divergence that could be utilized as potential markers for phylogeny reconstruction. Phylogenetic relationships of the family Aristolochiaceae inferred from the 18 cp genome sequences were consistent and robust, using maximum parsimony (MP), maximum likelihood (ML), and Bayesian analysis (BI) methods.

**Keywords:** *Aristolochia*; chloroplast genome; molecular evolution; compare analysis; phylogeny
