The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Ranunculus pekinensis (Ranunculaceae)

Ranunculus pekinensis, which belongs to the genus Ranunculus Sect. Batrachium of Ranunculaceae, is endemic to Beijing, China. It usually grows in clear and flowing streams, and was listed as one of national protected plant species recently. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of R. pekinensis was generated by de novo assembly using high-throughput sequencing for the first time. The length of the whole chloroplast genome was 156,139 bp, containing a large single copy region (LSC) of 85,430 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 19,970 bp, which were separated by a pair of 25,367 bp inverted repeat regions (IRs). The sequence contained 112 unique genes, including 30 tRNA, 4 rRNA, and 78 protein-coding genes. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome is 37.8% and those in the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 36.0%, 31.3%, and 43.5% respectively. Phylogenetic analysis with the reported chloroplast sequences shows that R. pekinensis is more closely related to R. bungei, both of which belong to the Sect. Batrachium.