Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Wolffia globosa (Lemnoideae) and its phylogenetic relationships to other Araceae family

Abstract

Wolffia globosa is the smallest angiosperm in the world and can be found in Asia and parts of America. Also, it is commonly used as food in Southeast Asia. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of the Wolffia globosa was assembled from the whole genome Illumina sequencing data. The assembled genome size is 169,405 bp in length, which composed of a large single copy region (LSC) of 92,171 bp, a small single copy (SSC) regions of 13,570 bp and separated by a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 31,810 bp each. It encodes a total of 113 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 31 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. There are 22 duplicated genes in the predicted gene catalog. The overall GC content is 35.9% while the GC content of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 33.8%, 31.1%, and 40.0%, separately. Based on Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, it represents that Wolffia globosa was closely related to Wolffia australiana.