Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of sunflower family species Aster Flaccidus (Compositae)

Aster flaccidus is a perennial medicinal plant belong the sunflower family Compositae, which is widely distributed in China and some other Asian countries. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of A. flaccidus was sequenced using the Illumina Hiseq 4000 platform. The size of the A. flaccidus chloroplast genome is 151,329 bp, with an average GC content of 37.5%. This circular molecule has a typical quadripartite structure containing a large single copy (LSC) region of 83,480 bp, a small single copy (SSC) region of 18,149 bp, and two inverted (IRs) repeat regions of 24,850 bp. A total of 132 genes were successfully annotated containing 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes. A maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree supported that the chloroplast genome of A. flaccidus is closely related to that of Aster indicus.