The complete chloroplast genome sequence of <i>Rhododendron caucasicum</i> (Ericaceae)

Abstract

<i>Rhododendron caucasicum</i> Pall. is a shrub distributed in the mountainous areas of the Caucasus from northeastern Türkiye towards the Caspian Sea. This study reports the first complete chloroplast genome sequence of <i>R. caucasicum</i>. The plastome is 199,487 base pairs (bp) long and exhibits a typical quadripartite structure comprising a large single-copy region of 107,645 bp, a small single-copy region of 2,598 bp, and a pair of identical inverted repeat regions of 44,622 bp each. It contains 143 genes, comprising 93 protein-coding genes, 42 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The large chloroplast genome size is likely due to the expansion of inverted repeats. A phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast genomes with other <i>Rhododendron</i> species supports previously recognized infrageneric relationship.