The complete chloroplast genome of var. (H. Wolff) Shan & Yin Li (Apiaceae), a new substitution for Chinese medicinal material, Bupleuri Radix (Chai hu).

The root of var. (H. Wolff) Shan & Yin Li (Apiaceae), a new substitution for the popular Chinese medicinal material, Bupleuri Radix (Chai hu), is not easily distinguishable via traditional methods. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of var. was characterized using next-generation sequencing and the assembly method. The complete genome was 155,576 bp in length and contained two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,311 bp, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,351 bp, and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,603 bp. It encoded 113 unique genes consisting of 79 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 30 transfer RNA genes, and four ribosomal RNA genes. Importantly, three genes (, and ) with small exon, and one trans-splicing gene () were correctly annotated. The overall GC content of the var. chloroplast genome is 37.7%. The phylogenetic analyses indicated that var. was closely related to . Moreover, many genetic information sites were available for distinguishing var. from the official 'Chai hu' plant sources, Willd. and DC.