The complete chloroplast genome of Syzygium polyanthum (Wight) Walp. (Myrtales: Myrtaceae)

Syzygium polyanthum (Wight) Walp. is a common herbal medicine and food ingredient in South East Asia. In this work, the chloroplast genome of S. polyanthum was sequenced and characterized using a next-generation sequencing method. The results revealed a quadripartite chloroplast genome of 158,535 bp in length, including a large single-copy region, a small single-copy region, and two inverted repeat regions of 87,759 bp, 18,708 bp, and 26,034 bp in size, respectively. This genome contained 124 genes (with 17 duplicated genes in inverted repeat regions), including 79 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNAs, and 37 transfer RNAs. Based on the chloroplast genomes of 47 Myrtaceae species, a phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Syzygium genus was divided into three clades, in which S. polyanthum was a sister to a clade formed by S. malaccense, S. samarangense, S. aromaticum, S. rehderrianum, and S. nervosum. This study reports the first record of a complete chloroplast of S. polyanthum that provides useful genetic information for further studies on taxonomy, genomic structural variation, and the evolution of Syzygium as well as the Myrtaceae family.