Plastid phylogenomics of Robinsonia (Senecioneae; Asteraceae), endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands: insights into structural organization and molecular evolution.

Background: The genus Robinsonia DC. (tribe Senecioneae, Asteraceae) endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands in Chile is one of the most conspicuous insular plant groups in the world. Unlike typical herbaceous Asteraceae plants, these plants demonstrate spectacular and unusual rosette tree growth forms as shown by the alpine giant senecios (genus Dendrosenecio, tribe Senecioneae) endemic to the East African mountains. However, monophyly of the genus and phylogenetic relationships among species of Robinsonia as well as their plastome evolution remain elusive. This study aims to explore their phylogeny, species diversification, and molecular evolution based on the complete plastome sequences in the context of adaptive radiation on oceanic islands.

Results: The insular Robinsonia plastomes are highly conserved in their structures and organization of contents. Five divergence hotspots as potential chloroplast markers and five positively selected coding genes (accD, ndhF, rpoA, ycf1, and ycf2) are identified. Robinsonia plastomes has an overall nucleotide diversity higher than that of the sky island Dendrosenecio, but much lower than herbaceous Senecio. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates the monophyly of Robinsonia and identifies two major infrageneric lineages. Both Robinsonia and Dendrosenecio are deeply nested within large genus Senecio.

Conclusions: While plastid genomes of Robinsonia are highly conserved, their sequences strongly demonstrated the monophyly of the genus and inferred robust interspecific relationships, including herbaceous Senecio and woody Dendrosenecio. Different sets of positively selected chloroplast genes, five for Robinsonia and two for Dendrosenecio, may play an important role in the adaptation strategies of these fascinating woody species in insular and continental sky island habitats. Overall phylogenetic positions and sister lineages of Robinsonia and Dendrosenecio require additional study based on broader sampling of Senecio.