Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of the Helleborus atrorubens Waldst. & Kit. (Ranunculaceae)

Helleborus atrorubens is an economically important perennial garden plant with medicinal value. Here, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of H. atrorubens. The results revealed the chloroplast genome to be 166,695 bp in length. It possesses a typical quadripartite structure containing one large single copy (LSC) region (84994 bp), one small single copy (SSC) region (17,825 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (31938 bp). This chloroplast genome encoded 130 genes, out of which 85 code for proteins, 37 for transfer RNAs, and 8 for ribosomal RNAs. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and the top variable coding regions were identified. Our study lays a foundation for further research, such as species differentiation and phylogenetic reconstruction of the Helleborus genus.