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Complete mitochondrial genome of the Eurasian flying squirrel Pteromys volans (Sciuromorpha, Sciuridae) and revision of rodent phylogeny

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Abstract

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of the Eurasian flying squirrel Pteromys volans (Rodentia, Sciuromorpha, Sciuridae) was sequenced and characterized in detail. The entire mitochondrial genome of P. volans consisted of 16,513 bp and contained 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and two non-coding regions. Its gene arrangement pattern was consistent with the mammalian ground pattern. The overall base composition and AT contents were similar to those of other rodent mitochondrial genomes. The light-strand origin generally identified between tRNA Asn and tRNA Cys consisted of a secondary structure with an 11-bp stem and an 11-bp loop. The large control region was constructed of three characteristic domains, ETAS, CD, and CSB without any repeat sequences. Each domain contained ETAS1, subsequences A, B, and C, and CSB1, respectively. In order to examine phylogenetic contentious issues of the monophyly of rodents and phylogenetic relationships among five rodent suborders, here, phylogenetic analyses based on nucleotide sequence data of the 35 rodent and 3 lagomorph mitochondrial genomes were performed using the Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood method. The result strongly supported the rodent monophyly with high node confidence values (BP 100 % in ML and BPP 1.00 in BI) and also monophylies of four rodent suborders (BP 85–100 % in ML and BPP 1.00 in BI), except for Anomalumorpha in which only one species was examined here. Also, phylogenetic relationships among the five rodent suborders were suggested and discussed in detail.

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Acknowledgments

The present work was supported partly by the grant “The Genetic Evaluation of Important Biological Resources (No. 074-1800-1844-304)” funded by the National Institute of Biological Resources, Korean Government, and by the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant “Basic Science Research Program (KRF-2007-313-C00675)” funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) awarded to U. W. H. We also thank anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biology, Teachers College & Institute for Phylogenomics and Evolution, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Korea

    Shi Hyun Ryu, Min Jung Kwak & Ui Wook Hwang

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  1. Shi Hyun Ryu
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Correspondence to Ui Wook Hwang.

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Ryu, S.H., Kwak, M.J. & Hwang, U.W. Complete mitochondrial genome of the Eurasian flying squirrel Pteromys volans (Sciuromorpha, Sciuridae) and revision of rodent phylogeny. Mol Biol Rep 40, 1917–1926 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-012-2248-x

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