Plastid genome of Cerastium davuricum (Caryophyllaceae) from Mongolia

Cerastium davuricum Fisch. ex Spreng. is distributed in European Russia to Mongolia and West Himalaya, and leaves are traditionally used for cooking and drying. Unfortunately, there have not been enough genetic studies on Cerastium until now, which limits understanding of their genetic diversity and the development of further studies. This note reports the plastome sequence of C. davuricum and provides resource for comparative genomics, phylogenetic studies, and molecular markers development within Caryophyllaceae family. Fresh leaves were collected from the Bugant tosgon, Eruu soum, Selenge province (voucher: SE24). The plastid genome library was prepared from the total genomic DNA using the TruSeq DNA Nano Kit along with the NextSeq 500 platform. The genome exhibits a natural quadripartite structure and was 148,318 bp in length. Plastome contains 113 unique genes, including 4 rRNA, 30 tRNA, and 79 protein-coding genes. A total of 26 single-sequence repeats were identified, primarily located in the intergenic spacer regions. Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole plastome shows that Cerastium species formed a monophyletic clade and C. davuricum was first to separate from the ancestor node. This suggests that C. davuricum is the most divergent species within the genus.