Abstract
We report the complete mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flaviceps. The mtDNA is 16,485 bp long in size. The 13 protein-coding genes have typical ATN initiation codon. But the stop codons were TAA, TAG and an incomplete termination codon (T) abutting an adjacent tRNA gene. Twenty-two tRNA genes, in addition to tRNAser (AGN) replaced lacking of the DHU stem with a simple loop, showed the typical clover-leaf secondary structure. The A + T-rich region was 1677 bp in length with 70.3 % A + T content. Addition to the A + T-rich region, non-coding sequences of the mtDNA genome harbored 18 intergenic spacers. There were two complete repeats and one partial repeats of repeat A and repeat B in CR. Phylogenetic tree based on the 12 complete mitochondrial genome sequences of closely related termite species accords well with the morphological phylogenetic analysis.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Mr. Wu Jia (Center for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University) for his help in collecting samples. We also thank Yi-Heng Hu (College of Life Sciences, northwest University) for his assistance with the analytic software. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170363 and 31370428).
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Zhao, S., Dang, YL., Zhang, HG. et al. The complete mitochondrial genome of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flaviceps (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Conservation Genet Resour 8, 451–453 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-016-0594-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-016-0594-z