The complete chloroplast genome of Acer catalpifolium (Sapindaceae), a rare and endangered plant in Southwest China

Abstract

Acer catalpifolium is a rare and endangered species in southwestern China. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of A. catalpifolium was characterized by de novo assembly using high-throughput sequencing. The length of the whole chloroplast genome was 156,225 bp, containing a large single copy region (LSC) of 85,976 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,066 bp, which were separated by a pair of 26,092 bp inverted repeat regions (IRs). The sequence contained 135 unique genes, including 40 tRNA, eight rRNA, and 87 protein-coding genes. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome is 37.9% and those in the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 36.1%, 32.2%, and 42.9%, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis based on reported chloroplast sequences of Sapindaceae showed that A. catalpifolium is sister to A. miaotaiense, and the genera of Acer and Dipteronia are closely related to Aesculus.