Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of two Hovenia species (Rhamnaceae)

Abstract

Hovenia is a small genus comprising approximately three species and occurs naturally in many countries and regions in Asia. In this study, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast genome of H. dulcis and H. trichocarpa for the first time. The two Hovenia chloroplasts have closely resembled gene length, content, and order. The circular genomes of H. dulcis and H. trichocarpa were 161,667 and 161,668 bp in total length, respectively, while each exhibited characteristic quadripartite structure with one LSC region of 89,450–89,451 bp, one SSC region of 18,979 bp, separated by a pair of IR regions of 26,619 bp. A total of 104 unique genes were encoded, including 72 protein-coding genes, 28 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. Further, the phylogenetic analysis showed that three Hovenia species clustered into one well-supported clade and formed a sister to the genus of Ziziphus.

Keywords

• hovenia
• chloroplast genome
• phylogenetic analysis