Complete chloroplast genome of Ulva meridionalis (Ulvales: Ulvaceae): an extremely fast-growing green macroalgae

Ulva meridionalis is one of the causal green macroalgae for green tides in Japan and exists in coastal areas of China. In the present study, complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of Ulva meridionalis was reported, and the total length of this species was 88,653 bp (GenBank accession number MN889540). The overall base composition of cp genome was A (37.1%), T (39.0%), C (11.4%) and G (12.5%), similar to other Ulva macroalgae within cp genome, and the percentage of A + T (76.1%) was higher than C + G (23.9%). U. meridionalis cp genome encoded 113 genes, including 80 protein-coding genes, 27 transfer RNAs genes and 6 ribosomal RNAs genes. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis shows that Ulva linza is the closest sister species of U. meridionalis.