Molecular structure and phylogenetic analysis of complete chloroplast genomes of medicinal species Paeonia lactiflora from Zhejiang Province

Paeonia lactiflora is a geo-authentic and superior medicinal plant in Zhejiang province. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of P. lactiflora. The total genome size of P. lactiflora is 153,405 bp in length, including a small single-copy (SSC) region of 16,969 bp, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 84,340 bp separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,048 bp. The overall annotated gene number is 109, containing 76 protein-coding genes, 29 tRNAs and 4 rRNAs. The entire GC content of P. lactiflora is 38.43%, with the highest GC content of 42.99% in IR region. A total of 52 simple sequence repeats are identified in the cp genome of P. lactiflora. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a sister relationship between P. lactiflora and P. veitchii, and supported a unique evolutionary status of Family Paeoniaceae. This work provides a valuable genetic resource to develop robust markers and investigate the population genetics diversities for this famous medicinal species.