Complete chloroplast genome of Camellia yokdonensis Dung bis & Hakoda (Theaceae), a useful genomic data for elucidating evolution of Vietnamese endemic tea species

Various endemic Camellia L. species have been identified in Vietnam. However, most genomic data of these endemic tea taxa have not been characterized. In the current study, we employed next-generation sequencing method to sequence and complete chloroplast genome of Camellia yokdonensis Dung bis & Hakoda, an endemic species found in the central area of Vietnam. This circular genome was 157,090 bp in length and had 37.7% GC content. In addition, this quadripartite genome consisted of a large single-copy region (86,657 bp and 35.3% GC), a small single-copy region (18,273 bp and 30.6% GC), and two inverted repeat regions (26,080 bp and 43% GC each). The annotation result revealed 79 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA genes, and four ribosomal RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis pointed out that C. yokdonensis was placed as a basal clade to other examined Camellia species. This study provides initial genomic data for further studies examining evolutionary history of C. yokdonensis and other related Theaceae taxa.