Complete chloroplast genomes of E. umbellata Thunb., E. multiflora Thunb., E. macrophylla Thunb., and E. glabra Thunb. (Elaeagnaceae)

Abstract

Elaeagnus is a genus which consists about 70 species of flowering plants in the family Elaeagnaceae, and its edible fruit is a natural product used as food and in traditional medicine. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of four species, namely Elaeagnus umbellate Thunb., E. multiflora Thunb., E. macrophylla Thunb., and E. glabra Thunb., to study their phylogenetic relationships within the Elaeagnaceae. Total lengths of the chloroplast genome were 152,261 bp, 152,267 bp, 152,224 bp, and 152,227 bp, respectively. The four genomes had representative quadripartite structures, with an LSC region (82,207 bp, 82,191 bp, 82,136 bp, and 82,139 bp) and an SSC region (18,262 bp, 18,282 bp,and 18,278 bp for both species) separated by a pair of IRs (25,896 bp, 25,897 bp, and 25,905 bp for the latter two species), respectively. Moreover, they were composed of 136-137 genes, including 88 protein-coding genes, 40-41 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis indicated that E. umbellata was most closely related to E. multiflora, whereas E. macrophylla was close to E. glabra.

Keywords: Elaeagnaceae; Elaeagnus glabra; Elaeagnus macrophylla; Elaeagnus multiflora; Elaeagnus umbellata; complete chloroplast genome; phylogenetic analysis.