Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of an endangered elm species, ulmus gaussenii (Ulmaceae)

Abstract

Ulmus gaussenii which belongs to Ulmaceae is a critically endangered deciduous arbor endemic to East China. In the present study, we reported its complete chloroplast (cp) genome using Illumina pair-end sequencing. The whole genome was 160,094 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats (IR) of 26,062 bp, a large single copy (LSC) region of 88,875 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 19,179 bp. The genome contained 122 genes comprising 79 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, 30 transfer RNA genes. The overall GC content of U. gaussenii cp genome is 35.5%, and the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC and IR regions are 32.9, 28.2 and 42.4%, respectively. The maximum parsimony phylogenetic analysis based on 21 complete chloroplast genome sequences indicated that Ulmaceae taxa form a strongly supported clade with a high bootstrap value (100%).