Complete mitochondrial genome of the earthworm Amynthas seungpanensis (Clitellata: Megascolecidae)

Abstract

Amynthas seungpanensis Song and Paik, 1970 (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) is an endemic and ecologically important species in Korea; however, knowledge regarding its genetic characteristics is lacking. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of A. seungpanensis. The mitogenome is 15,085-bp long and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 1 major non-coding region, the control region. This mitogenome has an arrangement identical to that observed in the mitogenomes of most earthworms, and all 37 genes are transcribed from the same directional strand. All 13 PCGs have the same start codon (ATG). Six PCGs (COI, COII, ND6, CytB, ATP6, and ND4) end with TAA and ND4 ends with TAG, whereas the remaining genes exhibit an incomplete stop codon, T. The A/T content of the complete mitogenome is 65.8%; however, it varies among regions and genes as follows: control region, 77.8%; srRNA genes, 65.8%; lrRNA genes, 68.8%; tRNA genes, 64.2%; and PCGs, 65.0%. Results of phylogenetic analyses suggested the family Megascolecidae to be a monophyletic group with the highest nodal support, whereas the genus Amynthas, which belongs to Megascolecidae, was determined to be non-monophyletic.