%0 Journal Article
%T Complete Mitogenomes of Euploea mulciber (Nymphalidae: Danainae) and Libythea celtis (Nymphalidae: Libytheinae) and Their Phylogenetic Implications
%A Jiasheng Hao
%A Min£¿e Sun
%A Qinghui Shi
%A Xiaoyan Sun
%A Lili Shao
%A Qun Yang
%J ISRN Genomics
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/491636
%X The complete mitochondrial genome sequences of the two butterfly species Euploea mulciber (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Danainae) and Libythea celtis (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Libytheinae) were determined in this study, comprising 15,166£¿bp and 15,164£¿bp, respectively. The orientation and the gene order of the two mitogenomes are identical to those of most of the other lepidopteran species. All protein-coding genes of Euploea mulciber and Libythea celtis mitogenomes start with a typical ATN codon with the exception of COI gene which uses CGA as its initial codon. All tRNA genes possess the typical cloverleaf secondary structure except for tRNASer (AGN), which has a simple loop with the absence of the DHU stem. There are short microsatellite-like repeat regions, but no conspicuous macrorepeats scattered throughout the A + T-rich regions. Phylogenetic analysis among the available butterfly species suggests that Libythea celtis (Libytheinae) is closely related to Calinaga davidis (Calinaginae), indicating that the subfamily Libytheinae may not represent a basal lineage of the Nymphalidae as previously suggested, and that Euploea mulciber stands at the base of the nymphalid tree as a sister to all other nymphalids. 1. Introduction The animal mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) is a circular molecule of 15¨C20£¿kb in length. It contains 37 conserved genes including 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) involved in electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation [1, 2]. It also contains an A + T-rich region which is the largest noncoding area involved in the initiation and regulation of replication and transcription [3]. Mitogenome studies are important for comparative and evolutionary genomics, phylogenetics, molecular evolution, and population genetics due to the genome¡¯s unique features, such as maternal inheritance, lack of extensive recombination, and accelerated nucleotide substitution rates [4, 5]. The Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is probably the largest insect order, containing over 165,000 described species. The systematics of the lepidopteran higher groups has long been a matter of contention [6¨C8]. In China, Chou¡¯s taxonomic system [9] is widely adopted, in which the Chinese butterflies are split into 12 families and 32 subfamilies based on their morphological characteristics. However, another taxonomic system proposed by Wahlberg et al. (2005) [10], which is followed herein, has been commonly accepted by most butterfly researchers. In this system, the butterflies are classified into 2
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.genomics/2013/491636/