The complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of the giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, was determined by the long and accurate polymerase chain reaction (LA-PCR) with conserved primers and primer walking sequence methods. The complete mitochondrial DNA is 16,805 nucleotides in length and contains two ribosomal RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and one control region. The total length of the 13 protein-coding genes is longer than the American black bear, brown bear and polar bear by 3 amino acids at the end of ND5 gene. The codon usage also followed the typical vertebrate pattern except for an unusual ATT start codon, which initiates the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 ( ND5) gene. The molecular phylogenetic analysis was performed on the sequences of 12 concatenated heavy-strand encoded protein-coding genes, and suggested that the giant panda is most closely related to bears.