Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence and Phylogenetic Analysis of Aster tataricus

We sequenced and analyzed the complete chloroplast genome of <i>Aster tataricus</i> (family Asteraceae), a Chinese herb used medicinally to relieve coughs and reduce sputum. The <i>A. tataricus</i> chloroplast genome was 152,992 bp in size, and harbored a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, each 24,850 bp) divided into a large single-copy (LSC, 84,698 bp) and a small single-copy (SSC, 18,250 bp) region. Our annotation revealed that the <i>A. tataricus</i> chloroplast genome contained 115 genes, including 81 protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNA genes, and 30 transfer RNA genes. In addition, 70 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected in the <i>A. tataricus</i> chloroplast genome, including mononucleotides (36), dinucleotides (1), trinucleotides (23), tetranucleotides (1), pentanucleotides (8), and hexanucleotides (1). Comparative chloroplast genome analysis of three <i>Aster</i> species indicated that a higher similarity was preserved in the IR regions than in the LSC and SSC regions, and that the differences in the degree of preservation were slighter between <i>A. tataricus</i> and <i>A. altaicus</i> than between <i>A. tataricus</i> and <i>A. spathulifolius</i>. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that <i>A. tataricus</i> was more closely related to <i>A. altaicus</i> than to <i>A. spathulifolius</i>. Our findings offer valuable information for future research on <i>Aster</i> species identification and selective breeding.