title: Complete Chloroplast Genome of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis): Structure and Evolution.
abstract: The Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis) is a rare Southern conifer with striking morphological similarity to fossil pines. A small population of W. nobilis was discovered in 1994 in a remote canyon system in the Wollemi National Park (near Sydney, Australia). This population contains fewer than 100 individuals and is critically endangered. Previous genetic studies of the Wollemi pine have investigated its evolutionary relationship with other pines in the family Araucariaceae, and have suggested that the Wollemi pine genome contains little or no variation. However, these studies were performed prior to the widespread use of genome sequencing, and their conclusions were based on a limited fraction of the Wollemi pine genome. In this study, we address this problem by determining the entire sequence of the W. nobilis chloroplast genome. A detailed analysis of the structure of the genome is presented, and the evolution of the genome is inferred by comparison with the chloroplast sequences of other members of the Araucariaceae and the related family Podocarpaceae. Pairwise alignments of whole genome sequences, and the presence of unique pseudogenes, gene duplications and insertions in W. nobilis and Araucariaceae, indicate that the W. nobilis chloroplast genome is most similar to that of its sister taxon Agathis. However, the W. nobilis genome contains an unusually high number of repetitive sequences, and these could be used in future studies to investigate and conserve any remnant genetic diversity in the Wollemi pine.
authors.affiliation: National Herbarium of New South Wales, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia; School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Jia-Yee S
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.affiliation: Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, Zernikeplein 7, 9747, AS Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rohner
authors.affiliation: National Herbarium of New South Wales, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia; School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Greenfield
authors.affiliation: National Herbarium of New South Wales, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Marlien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Der Merwe
authors.affiliation: National Herbarium of New South Wales, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: McPherson
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Glenn
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kornfeld
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Elessa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marendy
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Annie Y H
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilton
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Marc R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Wilkins
authors.affiliation: National Herbarium of New South Wales, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossetto
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Biosciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia.
authors.forename: Sven K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Delaney
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D014644:Genetic Variation; D054628:Genome, Chloroplast; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D064028:Tracheophyta / Q000235:genetics*