The complete chloroplast genome of Polygala tenuifolia, a critically endangered species in Korea

Abstract

Polygala tenuifolia Willd. is an Oriental plant that is widely distributed in East Asia; but the medicinal plant is a critically endangered species in Korea, where only a few individuals exist. In spite of that, there have been no molecular conservation studies on P. tenuifolia. In this study, we elucidated the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of P. tenuifolia and investigated its phylogenetic position based on the cp genomes of related taxa. Results showed the cp genome was 165,423 bp in length, consisting of a large single-copy region of 83,699 bp, a small single-copy region of 8,044 bp, and two inverted repeat regions of 36,840 bp. In addition, the plastid genome contained 123 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 38 transfer RNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. The present study is the first to report the complete cp genome of genus Polygala, information which may be valuable for future molecular phylogenetic and conservation studies on P. tenuifolia.