The complete chloroplast genome of a Chinese medicinal plant, Peristrophe japonica (Thunb.) Bremek. (Lamiales: Acanthaceae) from Nanjing, China

Peristrophe japonica (Thunb.) Bremek. is a widely distributed medicinal plant species in China and Japan. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of P. japonica was assembled and characterized from high-throughput sequencing data. The chloroplast genome is 151,374 bp in length, consisting of a large single-copy (LSC) and a small single-copy (SSC) regions of 83,395 bp and 17,073 bp, respectively, which were separated by a pair of 25,453 bp inverted repeat (IR) regions. The overall GC content of the genome is 38.07%. The genome contains 133 genes, including 88 protein-coding, 37 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. A phylogenetic tree reconstructed using 23 chloroplast genomes reveals that Peristrophe form a separate group which is a sister of the genus Dicliptera. The work reported here is the first complete chloroplast genome of P. japonica which will provide useful information to the evolutionary studies on the genus of Peristrophe.