Diversity and evolution of plastomes in Saharan mimosoids: potential use for phylogenetic and population genetic studies

Acacias (Mimosoideae) represent a major woody group in arid and subarid habitats of all tropical and subtropical regions. The genetic diversity and population dynamic of African species are still poorly investigated, in particular due to ploidy variation among and within species. Here, we aim to investigate the diversity of the plastid genome (or plastome) of Central Saharan mimosoids, in order to assess its potential utility for phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. We first used a genome skimming strategy to assemble the complete plastome plus the nuclear ribosomal DNA cluster of six species belonging to three genera (Vachellia, Senegalia, and Faidherbia). Phylogenetic relationships based on these data confirm the existence of three main evolutionary lineages in the Hoggar range (southern Algeria). An analysis of the plastome structure reveals an extension of the inverted repeat (IR) in Faidherbia albida as recently reported in two other genera of the same lineage (Inga and Acacia s. s.). Higher substitution rates are detected in this lineage, and our species sampling allows revealing genes (particularly accD, clpP, rps2, rps3, ycf1, ycf2, and ycf4) under positive selection following the IR extension. The reasons for this evolutionary transition need to be unraveled. We then develop 21 plastid microsatellites to be used on a large panel of mimosoid species. At a local scale, 18 of these loci reveal intra-specific polymorphism in at least one species. These markers may be useful to assess the genetic diversity of the plastome for comparative phylogeographies or population genetic studies.