Complete chloroplast genome sequence of the medicinal plant Actaea cimicifuga L. (Ranunculaceae)

Actaea cimicifuga L. (syn. Cimicifuga foetida L.) is an important medicinal plant widely used in China. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of A. cimicifuga was characterized and assembled. The complete chloroplast genome is 159,761 bp in length and exhibits a typical tetrad structure, consisting of a large single-copy region (88,805 bp) and a small-single copy region (17,838 bp), separated by two inverted repeat regions of 26,559 bp each. A total of 129 unique genes were annotated, including 84 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. Fourteen genes containing introns were identified in the chloroplast genome of A. cimicifuga. Among these, two genes (ycf3 and clpP) contain two introns, whereas the remaining genes contain a single intron. Phylogenetic analysis based on maximum likelihood using 20 complete chloroplast genomes showed that A. cimicifuga is closely related to other species within the Actaea genus. The chloroplast genome of A. cimicifuga provides valuable genetic information.