The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Abies chensiensis (Pinaceae: Abietoideae), an endangered species endemic to China

Weimin Li; Chen Chen; Guoqing Bai; Bin Li; Hao Chen; Yafu Zhou; Sifeng Li

doi:10.1080/23802359.2018.1507636

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Abies chensiensis (Pinaceae: Abietoideae), an endangered species endemic to China

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2018 Oct 15;3(2):984-985. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2018.1507636.

Authors

Weimin Li^{1

2}, Chen Chen^{1

2}, Guoqing Bai^{1

2}, Bin Li^{1

2}, Hao Chen^{1

2}, Yafu Zhou^{1

2}, Sifeng Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Xi'an Botanical Garden of Shaanxi Province (Institute of Botany of Shaanxi Province), Xi'an, China.
² Shaanxi Province Qinling- Bashan Mountains Engineering Research Center of Conservation and Utilization of Biological Resources, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Chloroplast (cp) genome sequences became a widely used tool for evolutionary and phylogenetic studies in plants. Abies chensiensis (Pinaceae: Abietoideae) is an endangered species endemic to China. To understand its evolutionary characteristics, the complete chloroplast genome of the A. chensiensis has been reconstructed from the whole-genome Illumina sequencing data. The circular genome is 121,784 bp in length and without a typical quadripartite structure due to the loss of IR region. The total GC content of whole genome sequence is 38.3%. The chloroplast genome encodes 109 genes, including 75 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA genes and four ribosomal RNA genes. Among them, 35 genes involved in photosynthesis, while 58 genes involved in self-replication. The Maximum-Likelihood phylogenetic analysis showed a strong sister relationship with A. nephrolepis and A. koreana in Abietoideae. Our findings provide fundamental information for further evolutionary and phylogenetic researches of Abietoideae.

Keywords: Abies chensiensis; Illumina sequencing; MITObim; chloroplast genome.