Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Elaeagnus mollis, a rare and endangered oil plant

Abstract

Elaeagnus mollis is a rare and endangered oil tree species endemic to China. Here we assembled and characterized its whole chloroplast (cp) genome using Illumina pair-end sequencing data. The E. mollis cp genome was 151,428 bp in length, containing a large single copy region (LSC) of 81,003 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,561 bp separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,932 bp. The genome possessed 131 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Most of genes occurred as single-copy, while 18 gene species had two copies. The overall GC content of the E. mollis cp genome was 37.0%, and the corresponding values of LSC, SSC and IR regions were 35.0, 30.3 and 42.2%, respectively. The phylogenomic analysis revealed that E. mollis clustered with E. macrophylla in Elaeagnaceae, which was closely related to Moraceae and Cannabaceae belonging to Rosales.