Dear Editor, The Chinese bayberry(Morelia rubra Lour.,2n=2x=16)is an evergreen fruit tree native to southern China and the only domesticated species in family Myricaceae[1].Today M.rubra is widely cultivated in subtropical regions of China and has become an economically important fresh fruit with＞300 varieties and an annual production of 1.5 million tons[2,3].The aim of the current study was to reveal the domestication history of M.rubra using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing(RAD-seq)data.Seventy-eight individuals were sampled,including 44 landraces and improved cultivated varieties,19 wild individuals from the natural distribution ranges in southern China,14 from five other Morella species,and 1 from Comptonia.

Sinomenium acutum is a woody vine of great virtue in traditional Chinese medicine and, nowadays, a potent anticancer drug against several types of cancers. In the present study, we have assembled and characterized the very first chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of S. acutum. The whole chloroplast genome is 162,966 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats (IR) of 25,051 bp each, separated by one large single-copy region (LSC, 91,627 bp) and a small single-copy region (SSC, 21,237 bp). The cp genome encodes 132 unique genes that contain 85 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. In our phylogeny of Ranunculales, Menispermum dauricum is sister to S. acutum.

Ulmus chenmoui is of great ecological and horticultural importance and a national Class III protected plant endemic to China. However, previous studies of it suffered from insufficient genomic resources. Here, using the paired-end shotgun sequencing technology, we determined the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of U. chenmoui. Our results showed the cp genome of U. chenmoui was 159,371 bp long and displayed a typical quadripartite structure which consisted of a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) with a length of 26,296 bp, separating by two single-copy regions (LSC, 88,084 bp and SSC, 18,695 bp). Besides, the cp genome of U. chenmoui contained 120 genes, including 83 protein coding genes, 29 transfer RNAs and eight ribosomal RNAs. Moreover, a maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis based on the 13 cp genomes demonstrated the monophyly of Ulmaceae and U. chenmoui was closely related to Ulmus gaussenii.