Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Puccinellia distans

Puccinellia distans is a perennial gramineous plant with the characteristics of drought and salt tolerance. It is a special pioneer plant for saline-alkali land improvement and is increasingly used for ecological restoration of saline-alkali grassland. However, the evolutionary relationship of P. distans is limited in study. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of P. distans was evaluated. The complete chloroplast genome of P. distans was 135,647 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeated (IR) regions (21,444 bp) that are separated by a large single-copy (LSC) region of 800,15 bp, and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 12,744 bp. A total of 129 functional genes were annotated, including 83 protein-coding genes (mRNA), 38 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic relationships of 12 species indicated that P. distans was closely related to P. muttalliana. This complete chloroplast genome will provide a theoretical basis for species identification and biological research.