Phylogenetic position of the Vietnamese endemic Camellia cattienensis (Theaceae) based on complete plastome

Vietnam is increasingly recognized as an important center of species diversity for the genus Camellia (Theaceae); however, many endemic species remain insufficiently studied at the genomic level, limiting our understanding of their evolutionary relationships. In this study, we report the complete plastid genome (plastome) sequence of Camellia cattienensis , an endemic species from southern Vietnam, and investigate its phylogenetic position within the genus. The plastome of C. cattienensis exhibits a typical quadripartite structure with a total length of 156,357 bp, comprising a large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,107 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,220 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,015 bp each and a conserved gene content comparable to other Camellia species. Phylogenomic analyses based on complete plastome sequences support the monophyly of Camellia and place C. cattienensis as a basal lineage. This finding highlights the importance of additional sampling and plastome analysis of endemic species from southern Vietnam to improve our understanding of the evolutionary history of Camellia . These results provide valuable genomic data for Vietnamese endemic species and contribute to a better understanding of Camellia evolution.