Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Lepidium meyenii (Brassicaceae)

Abstract

Lepidium meyenii (Maca), is an important medical plant, only located in a rather restricted ecological zone in the Andes at a high altitude. Here, the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of L. meyenii (Brassicaceae) was assembled based on the Illumina sequencing reads. The complete cp genome of L. meyenii was 154,624 bp in length and contained two short inverted repeat (IRa and IRb) regions (26,330 bp) which were separated by a small single copy (SSC) region (17,963 bp) and a large single copy (LSC) region (83,998 bp). The L. meyenii chloroplast encoded 130 genes including 85 protein-coding genes (80 PCG species), 37 tRNAs (30 tRNA species), eight rRNA operons (four rRNA species). The overall GC content of L. meyenii chloroplast genome is 36.4% and the corresponding values in LSC, SSC and IR regions are 34.2%, 29.3% and 42.4%, respectively. The maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis based on 18 chloroplast genomes demonstrated a close phylogenetic relationship between L. meyenii and L. virginicum.