Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of shrubby sophora (Sophora flavescens Ait.)

Sophora flavescens, with high medicinal value, is a traditional Chinese medical plant wildly distributed in China. In this study, the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Sophora flavescens was determined through Illumina sequencing method. The complete chloroplast genome of S. flavescens was 154,378 bp in length and contained a pair of IR regions (28,876 bp) separated by a small single copy region (18,110 bp) and a large single copy region (84,516 bp). The cp genome of S. flavescens encoded 130 genes including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes and eight ribosomal RNA genes. The overall GC content of S. flavescens cp genome is 36.6%. By phylogenetic analysis using ML method, S. flavescens showed the closest relationship with Sophora alopecuroides.