The Mitochondrial Genome of Curcuma longa: A Large and Structurally Complex Genome with Extensive Intracellular DNA Transfer

<b>Background</b>: Plant mitochondrial genomes exhibit extreme variation in size and structure while maintaining a conserved set of core protein-coding genes. This combination of structural diversity and functional conservation provides valuable insights into evolutionary processes such as genome expansion, rearrangement, and intracellular DNA transfer. <i>Curcuma longa</i>, an economically and medicinally important species in the genus <i>Curcuma</i> (Zingiberaceae), has not yet been studied in terms of the organization and evolution of its mitochondrial genome. <b>Methods</b>: In this study, we assembled and annotated the mitochondrial and plastid genomes of <i>C. longa</i> using third-generation HiFi sequencing data, systematically analyzing their genomic structure, repetitive sequence content, and features of sequence transfer between nuclear and organellar genomes. <b>Results</b>: The mitochondrial genome of <i>C. longa</i> was assembled as a complex, network-like structure consisting of 12 contigs with a total length of approximately 7.7 Mb, making it one of the largest mitochondrial genomes reported in monocots to date. Comparative analysis revealed significant differences in repeat types, abundance, and length distribution between the two organellar genomes. Additionally, extensive intracellular DNA transfer events were identified among the nuclear, mitochondrial, and plastid genomes. <b>Conclusions</b>: Overall, this study provides the first comprehensive report on the giant mitochondrial genome of <i>C. longa</i>, detailing its structural organization, repeat content, and intergenomic transfers. These findings lay a foundation for understanding mitochondrial genome evolution in <i>Curcuma</i> and offer broader insights into the mechanisms driving extreme mitochondrial genome expansion in angiosperms and monocots specifically.