The complete chloroplast genome of medinilla arboricola (melastomataceae) and its phylogenetic analysis

Abstract

Abstract Medinilla arboricola is a near threatened climbing shrub endemic to Hainan Island, China. We present its first complete chloroplast genome, assembled using Illumina paired-end sequencing. The 155,517 bp plastome has a typical quadripartite structure: an 85,379 bp large single-copy region, a 16,568 bp small single-copy region, and two 26,785 bp inverted repeats, with a GC content of 37.02%. A total of 128 annotated genes were identified, comprising 84 protein-coding, 36 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analyses based on 14 Melastomataceae plastomes placed Medinilla arboricola among the sampled Medinilla species, as sister to Medinilla tapete-magicum with maximum support. This genome provides valuable plastomic data for taxonomic and evolutionary studies of Medinilla and Melastomataceae.