The complete chloroplast genome sequence annotation for Malania oleifera, a critically endangered and important bioresource tree

In this study, we characterize the chloroplast genome of Malania oleifera Chun et S. Lee, the only species of this genus and member of the Olacaceae family. M. oleifera is an interesting seed oil plant for medicinal purposes. It is also a critically endangered species, which is currently recorded on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and in the “Red Data Book of Chinese Plants: the Rare and Endangered Plants”. Its total chloroplast genome length is 125,050 bp, including a large single copy region of 76,387 bp, a short single copy gene region of 15 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 24,324 bp. We annotated 80 genes in this chloroplast genome, including 51 protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNAs, 4 pseudogenes and 21 tRNA genes. We found 15 genes duplicated in the IR regions, and the overall GC content was found to be 38.17%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that M. oleifera is closely related to Erythropalum scandens comparing nine chloroplast genomes from Santalales.