The complete chloroplast genome of Gaultheria fragrantissima Wall. (Ericaceae) from Yunnan, China, an aromatic medicinal plant in the wintergreens

Xu Yan-Ling; Xin-Yu Du; Li Yi-Rong; Lu Lu

doi:10.1080/23802359.2021.1923425

The complete chloroplast genome of Gaultheria fragrantissima Wall. (Ericaceae) from Yunnan, China, an aromatic medicinal plant in the wintergreens

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2021 May 27;6(6):1761-1762. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2021.1923425.

Authors

Xu Yan-Ling¹, Xin-Yu Du², Li Yi-Rong¹, Lu Lu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
² Plant Germplasm and Genomics Center, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.

Abstract

Gaultheria fragrantissima (Ericaceae) is an aromatic medicinal plant with high concentrations of the secondarymetabolite methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). In this study, the complete chloroplast genomeof G. fragrantissima was sequenced. The complete plastome is 176,196 bp in length, and the GCcontent is 36.6%. The plastome comprises 110 unique genes (76 protein-coding, 30 tRNA and 4 rRNA).Phylogenetic analysis fully supported a sister relationship between G. fragrantissima and G. hookeriwithin the Leucothoides clade of Gaultheria. This chloroplast genome will serve as a valuable referencefor future taxonomic and phylogenetic research.

Keywords: Ericaceae; Gaultheria fragrantissima; methyl salicylate; phylogeny.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation ofChina under Grant [nos. 31960080 and 41671052]; Reserve talents ofYoung and Middle-Aged Academic and Technical Leaders in YunnanProvince under Grant [no. 202005AC160020].