The Complete Plastid Genome Sequence of Angiopteris evecta (G. Forst) Hoffm. (Marattiaceae)

We have sequenced the complete plastid genome of the fern Angiopteris evecta. This taxon belongs to a major lineage (marattioid ferns) that, in most recent phylogenetic analyses, emerges near the base of the monilophytes. We used fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate organelles, rolling circle amplification (RCA) to amplify the plastid genome, followed by shotgun sequencing to 8X depth coverage, and then we assembled these reads to obtain the plastid genome sequence. The circular genome map has 153,901 bp, containing inverted repeats of 21,053 bp each, a large single-copy region of 89,709 bp, and a small single-copy region of 22,086 bp. Gene order is similar to that of Psilotum. Several unique characters are observed in the Angiopteris plastid genome, such as repeat structure in a pseudogene. We make structural comparisons to Psilotum and Adiantum plastid genomes. However, the overall structural similarity to Psilotum indicates either wholesale conservation of genome organization, or (less likely) repeated convergence to a stable structure. The results are discussed in relation to a growing comparative database of genomic and morphological characters across the green plants