chlL (frxC) gene: phylogenetic distribution in vascular plants and DNA sequence from Polystichum acrostichoides (Pteridophyta) and Synechococcus sp. 7002 (Cyanobacteria)

We examined chlL (frxC) gene evolution using several approaches. Sequences from the chloroplast genome of the fern Polystichum acrostichoides and from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. 7002 were determined and found to be highly conserved. A complete physical map of the fern chloroplast genome and partial maps of other vascular plant taxa show that chlL is located primarily in the small single copy region as in Marchantia polymorpha. A survey of a wide variety of non-angiospermous vascular plant DNAs shows that chlL is widely distributed but has been lost in the pteridophyte Psilotum and (presumably independently) within the Gnetalean gymnosperms.