The complete chloroplast genome of Cirsium shansiense and its phylogenetic analysis

Cirsium shansiense is a common species in China, which can be used for traditional Chinese medicine. The chloroplast (cp) genome of C. shansiense exhibited a typical quadripartite cycle with 152,396 bp, including a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, 25,072 bp each), a large single-copy region (LSC, 83,517 bp), and a small single-copy region (SSC, 18,735 bp). One-hundred-thirty-three unique genes were assembled in the cp genome, including 88 protein genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 17 cp genomes of related species of Asteraceae showed that C. shansiense was closely related to Cirsium vulgare. This study provides important information for identification and conservation of species of Cirsium spp.