Iris japonica
Thunberg is one of the horticultural species belonging to the
Iris
genus and Iridaceae family. Previous studies have revealed its hepatoprotective activity and ornamental values. However, little genetic and genomic information about this species is available. Here, to decipher the chloroplast genome and reveal its evolutionary characteristics, we sequenced,
de novo
assembled, and comprehensively analyzed the chloroplast genome of
I. japonica
. The genome was 152,453 bp in length and displayed a circular structure with a large single-copy region, a small single-copy region, and two inverted repeat regions. It contained 131 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNA genes, and 38 transfer RNA genes. We also identified 23 microsatellite repeat sequences, 34 tandem repeat sequences, and 60 dispersed repeat sequences in the chloroplast genome of
I. japonica
. Sequence divergence analyses of the chloroplast genomes of 20
Iris
species revealed that the top four most highly variable regions were
ndhC-trnV-UAC
,
rpl22-rps19
,
rps16-trnQ-UUG
, and
trnG-UCC-trnR-UCU
. Phylogenetic analysis showed that
I. japonica
was most closely related to
I. tectorum
. This study reported a new chloroplast genome of
I. japonica
and performed comparative analyses of 20
Iris
chloroplast genomes. The results would facilitate the evolutionary research and development of molecular markers for
Iris
species.