Pinellia ternata is an important medicinal plant used in the treatment of cough, to dispel phlegm, to calm vomiting and to terminate early pregnancy, as an anti-ulcer and anti-tumor medicine. In this study, we found that the complete chloroplast genome of Pinellia ternata was 164 013 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats of 25 625 bp separated by a large single-copy region and a small single-copy region of 89 783 bp and 22 980 bp, respectively. The chloroplast genome encodes 132 predicted functional genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 transfer RNA genes. The chloroplast DNA is GC-rich (36.7%). The phylogenetic analysis showed a strong sister relationship with Colocasia esculenta, which also strongly supports the position of Pinellia ternata. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Pinellia ternata reported here has the potential to advance population and phylogenetic studies of this medicinal plant.
Keywords: Chloroplast genome; Pinellia ternata; medicinal plant.