Keywords:
Commiphora wightii
, Endangered species, Chloroplast genome, Phylogenetic analysis
Complete chloroplast genome of Commiphora wightii (family Burseraceae), a medicinally important-critically endangered plant, was assembled using next generation sequencing. Genome annotation was conducted using CpGAVAS web server. The genome is 156,064 bp in length, presenting a typical quadripartite structure of large (LSC; 93,841 bp) and small (SSC; 19,897 bp) single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs; 21,163 bp). The genome encodes 125 genes including 86 protein genes, 29 tRNAs, and eight rRNAs. Total 16 simple sequence repeats (SSR), detected in the plastome include the di, tri, tetra, and pentanucleotide repeat. When compared with the plastome of other members of Burseraceae it showed one unique SSR. Total twenty-two hypervariable regions of loci were found in the genome, which could serve as DNA barcodes for species identification. The newly sequenced complete cp genome identified SSRs, nucleotide diversity, phylogenetic analysis, and IR contraction will help in understanding the plastome evolution and genetic conservation of this critically endangered medicinal plant in the future.
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First author is thankful to Vimal Research Society for Agro-Biotech & Cosmic Powers, Rajkot for financial support, and Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India for providing lab facilities.