Comprehensive Analysis of Chloroplast Genome.

In the last decade, several studies have relied on a small number of plastid genomes to deduce deep phylogenetic relationships in the species-rich Myrtaceae. Nevertheless, the plastome of , an important representative plant of the Rhodomyrtus (DC.) genera, has not yet been reported yet. Here, we sequenced and analyzed the complete chloroplast (CP) genome of , which is a 156,129-bp-long circular molecule with 37.1% GC content. This CP genome displays a typical quadripartite structure with two inverted repeats (IRa and IRb), of 25,824 bp each, that are separated by a small single copy region (SSC, 18,183 bp) and one large single copy region (LSC, 86,298 bp). The CP genome encodes 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes and three pseudogenes (, , ). A considerable number of protein-coding genes have a universal ATG start codon, except for and . Premature termination codons (PTCs) were found in one protein-coding gene, namely , which is rarely reported in the CP genome of plants. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that has a sister relationship with and . In conclusion, this study identified unique characteristics of the CP genome providing valuable information for further investigations on species identification and the phylogenetic evolution between and related species.