Structure of Uraria crinita Chloroplast Genome

  Objective  Structure of the chloroplast genome from Uraria crinita, a plant used as food as well as herbal medicine in Lingnan area of China, was studied.

  Methods  The whole chloroplast genome was obtained by high-throughput sequencing and then assembled, annotated, and analyzed by bioinformatic means.

  Results  The genome was an annular quadripartite molecule of 149 774 bp that harbored 128 genes. It had a low GC content of 38.2% containing 26 015 codons that mostly ended with A or T. There were 110 loci of simple sequence repeat detected with the mononucleotide largely formed by A or T. An alignment and phylogenetic analysis on the sequence indicated a close relationship between U. crinita and U. lagopodioides.

  Conclusion  The chloroplast genome and structure of U. crinita were unveiled for the first time to aid future studies on the cultivation, breeding, genetics, and utilization of the valuable plant.