Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Hovenia acerba (Rhamnaceae).

Hovenia acerba is a widely distributed species with economic, ornamental, and medicinal value in China. In this study, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast genome of H. acerba for the first time. The circular genome has a quadripartite structure with 161,651 bp in length and contains a pair of 26,619 bp inverted repeat (IR) regions, separated by the large single-copy (LSC, 89,443 bp) region and small single-copy (SSC, 18,970 bp) region. The plastid genome harbours 104 unique genes, including 72 protein-coding genes, 28 tRNAs, and four rRNAs. The overall GC content of the whole genome was 36.7%. Further, the phylogenetic analysis showed that H. acerba clustered together with Ziziphus genus. The complete chloroplast genome of H. acerba will provide important information for phylogenetic and evolutionary studies in Rhamnaceae, as well as the other closely related family.