The sequence variation on chloroplast genome resulting variegated leaves in Fallopia japonica

In nature, there are many plants forming variegated leaves. It is known that these plants are mainly caused by the mutation in the chloroplast, which hinders the formation of chlorophyll. “Fallopia japonica”, an endemic plant originated in Northeast Asia such as Korea, Japan, and China is the representative example. Because this plant has many beneficial effects, it can be used as not only edible plant but also medicinal resource. F. japonica with the variegated leaves can be found easily in nature, as calling “Patterned F. japonica”. In this study, the sequences obtained through NGS (Next generation sequencing) platform from F.japonica leaves were assembled and the complete genome sequence was analyzed to elucidate the reason of this phenomenon.