The complete chloroplast genome of Libocedrus chevalieri, a Critically Endangered species in New Caledonia

Libocedrus chevalieri is a rare endemic conifer from New Caledonia, and it is evaluated as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. To take conservation actions more effectively, a survey of its genomic background and evolutionary status is of great significance. Illumina paired-end reads were used to character the chloroplast (cp) genome of L. chevalieri. The circular genome is 122,068 bp in length, containing 115 genes, in which include 83 protein-coding genes, four ribosomal RNA genes, and 28 transfer RNA genes. Nine genes (atpF, rpoC1, ndhB, ndhA, rpl2, petB, rpl16, petD, rps12) have one intron, whilst one gene (ycf3) has two introns. Inverted repeat (IR) sequence doesn’t exist in the genome. The GC content of the cp genome is 34.1%. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that L. chevalieri has a close relationship with L. plumosa.