The complete chloroplast genome of <i>Ocimum americanum</i> Linnaeus 1755 and phylogenetic analysis among the Lamiaceae family

<i>Ocimum americanum</i> Linnaeus 1755 (Lemon basil) is an essential medicinal species in the <i>Ocimum</i> genus. Its leaf decoction is traditionally used to treat diabetes, constipation, diarrhea, piles, and dysentery. The essential oils from this species have intense fungicidal activity. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of <i>O. americanum</i> was assembled from Illumina paired-end sequencing data. The <i>O. americanum</i> chloroplast genome was 152,460 bp in length, containing a large single copy (LSC) region of 83,459 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 17,607 bp, separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,697 bp. The genome contained 134 unique genes, including 89 protein-coding, 37 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. Among them, nine genes had a single intron, and two genes contained two introns. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome was 38%, while the corresponding values of LSC, SSC, and IR regions were 35.8%, 31.7%, and 43.1%, respectively. In the phylogenetic analysis, all the <i>Ocimum</i> species formed a group closely related to <i>Plectranthus barbatus. O. americanum</i> was more closely related to <i>O. gratissimum</i> and <i>O. basilicum</i> than the other species of <i>Ocimum</i> included in this study.