Characterization of the complete mitochondrial DNA of Theretra japonica and its phylogenetic position within the Sphingidae (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae)

By

Li, Jun
Lin, Ruirui
Zhang, Yao-Yao
Hu, Kunjie
Zhao, Yaqi
Li, Yan
Huang, Zhuoran
Zhang, Xu
Geng, Xuexia
Ding, Jian-Hua

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

754

Pages

127-139

Subjects

Lepidoptera , Mitogenome , Sphingidae , Theretra japonica

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.754.23404

 

Abstract

In the present study, the complete mitogenome of Theretrajaponica was sequenced and compared with other sequenced mitogenomes of Sphingidae species. The mitogenome of T.japonica, containing 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes) and a region rich in adenine and thymine (AT-rich region), is a circular molecule with 15,399 base pairs (bp) in length. The order and orientation of the genes in the mitogenome are similar to those of other sequenced mitogenomes of Sphingidae species. All 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) are initiated by ATN codons except for the cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 gene (cox1) which is initiated by the codon CGA as observed in other lepidopteran insects. Cytochrome C oxidase subunit 2 gene (cox2) has the incomplete termination codon T and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene (nad1) terminates with TAG while the remainder terminates with TAA. Additionally, the codon distributions of the 13 PCGs revealed that Ile and Leu2 are the most frequently used codon families and codons CGG, CGC, CCG, CAG, and AGG are absent. The 431 bp AT-rich region includes the motif ATAGA followed by a 23 bp poly-T stretch, short tandem repeats (STRs) of TC and TA, two copies of a 28 bp repeat ‘ATTAAATTAATAAATTAA TATATTAATA’ and a poly-A element. Phylogenetic analyses within Sphingidae confirmed that T.japonica belongs to the Macroglossinae and showed that the phylogenetic relationship of T.japonica is closer to Ampelophagarubiginosa than Daphnisnerii. Phylogenetic analyses within Theretra demonstrate that T.japonica, T.jugurtha, T.suffusa, and T.capensis are clustered into one clade.