Complete chloroplast genome sequences of Rehmannia chingii, an endemic and endangered herb

Abstract

The complete chloroplast genome (cpDNA) sequence of a rare herbaceous species, Rehmannia chingii, was determined by Illumina pair-end sequencing in this study. The cpDNA is 154,055 bp long, and includes a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,707 bp), one large single copy (LSC) region (84,966 bp), and one small single copy (SSC) region (17,675 bp). The chloroplast genome contains 133 unique genes, including 88 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes, 17 of which are duplicated within the IRs, including 6 protein-coding genes, 7 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The overall A+T content of the whole genome is 62.0 %, while the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC and IR regions are 64.0, 67.7 and 56.8 %, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis based on chloroplast genomes indicates that R. chingii is closely related to Lindenbergia philippensis.