Complete genome of the kikuyu grass chloroplast (Cenchrus clandestinus) and comparative analysis within the subfamily Panicoideae

Within the subfamily Panicoideae, the Cenchrus genus which is distributed in both tropical and subtropical regions worldwide—is economically important in terms of their production levels. For milkshed areas, one of the most important pastures is kikuyu (Cenchrus clandestinus), which represents the basic forage used for feeding in a number of countries. In this study, the kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus) plastome was sequenced, assembled, and annotated to broaden the information and the set of available genomic data. One whole-genome shotgun (WGS) library was constructed using Nextera preparation kits and was sequenced in an Illumina MiSeq platform. In addition, the genomic organization and arrangement of genes as well as their phylogenetic relationship with other species of the family Poaceae were compared using 81 protein-coding genes. The present study characterized and annotated the complete plastome of kikuyu grass, Cenchrus clandestinus, as an informative contribution for future studies potentially investigating the evolution of plant genomes and, specifically, aiming to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships within the family Poaceae,Overall, the results indicate that the structure and organization are conserved compared with other references within the family Poaceae. Phylogenetic relationships confirmed the position of kikuyu within the Cenchrus genus, and they are consistent with previous results obtained for other species of the subfamily Panicoideae.