The complete chloroplast genome of Passiflora caerulea, a tropical fruit with a distinctive aroma

Abstract

Passiflora caerulea is native to brazil. In recent years, the edible, medicinal, and ornamental value of P. caerulea has stimulated its wide cultivation in Southeast Asian countries, especially China. Because the chloroplast genome is rich with information about the species evolution as well as its genetic relationship to other species, the P. caerulea chloroplast genome was sequenced, assembled, and annotated in this study. The P. caerulea chloroplast genome is 151,362 bp in total with an overall GC content of 37.03%. It has a quadripartite structure, includes a large single-copy region (LSC, 85,623 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC, 13,397 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, 26,180 bp combined). There are 131 genes in the P. caerulea chloroplast genome, including 79 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 7 pseudogenes. Phylogenetic analysis of 29 Passiflora spp. showed that P. caerulea is most closely related to P. edulis. These results provide a considerable foundation for P. caerulea conservation genetics research.

Keywords: Passiflora caerulea; chloroplast genome; phylogenetic analysis.