The complete chloroplast genome sequence of the medicinal plant Lepidium meyenii Walp. (Cruciferae)

Abstract

Lepidium meyenii Walp. is a frequently used medicinal plant (namely, ‘maca’) in Yunnan Province of China. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of L. meyenii to investigate its phylogenetic relationship in the family Cruciferae. The chloroplast genome of L. meyenii was 154,839 bp in length with 36.39% overall GC content, including a large single copy (LSC) region of 83,943 bp, a small single copy (SSC) region of 17,978 bp and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 52,918 bp. The cp genome contained 103 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 21 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis indicated L. meyenii was closely related to the genus Capsella.

Keywords

• lepidium meyenii walp
• chloroplast
• illumina sequencing
• phylogeny