Complete Mitogenome Analysis of Five Leafhopper Species of Idiocerini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

Abstract

Insect mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are of great interest in exploring molecular evolution, phylogenetics, and biogeography. So far, only 12 mitogenomes of the leafhopper tribe Idiocerini have been released in GenBank, although the tribe comprises 488 known species including some agricultural, forestry, and horticultural pests. In order to compare and analyze the mitochondrial genome structure of Idiocerini and even the selective pressure of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) of the family Cicadellidae, the complete mitogenomes of five species including Nabicerus dentimus, Sahlbergotettix salicicola, Podulmorinus opacus, Podulmorinus consimilis, and a new species of a new genus were determined by next-generation sequencing. The size of the newly determined mitogenomes ranged from 14,733 bp to 15,044 bp, comprising the standard set of 13 PCGs, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a long non-coding control region (CR). The extent of purifying selection presented different pictures in the tribe and the family. The less pronounced genes (0.5 < dN/dS < 1) were nad5 and nad4l in Idiocerin, whereas in the family Cicadellidae including the sequences of Idiocerin, nad1-nad6 and cox1 genes were less pronounced. The codon encoding leucine was the most common in all species, and the codon encoding serine 1 was the most common in all species except for P. opacus. Interestingly, in P. opacus, another of the most common codons is that encoding serine 2. Among the 17 examined species of the Idiocerini, 14 species contained the tandem repeats, and 11 species of them contained the motif "TTATA". These findings will promote research on the structure and evolution of the mitochondrial genome and highlight the need for more mitogenomes in Cicadellidae.