Abstract
The complete 15,413-bp mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Sesamia inferens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was sequenced and compared with those of four other noctuid moths. All of the mitogenomes analyzed displayed similar characteristics with respect to gene content, genome organization, nucleotide comparison, and codon usages. Twelve-one protein-coding genes (PCGs) utilized the standard ATN, but the cox1 gene used CGA as the initiation codon; cox1, cox2, and nad4 genes had the truncated termination codon T in the S. inferens mitogenome. All of the tRNA genes had typical cloverleaf secondary structures except for trnS1(AGN), in which the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm did not form a stable stem-loop structure. Both the secondary structures of rrnL and rrnS genes inferred from the S. inferens mitogenome closely resembled those of other noctuid moths. In the A+T-rich region, the conserved motif “ATAGA” followed by a long T-stretch was observed in all noctuid moths, but other specific tandem-repeat elements were more variable. Additionally, the S. inferens mitogenome contained a potential stem-loop structure, a duplicated 17-bp repeat element, a decuplicated segment, and a microsatellite “(AT)7”, without a poly-A element upstream of the trnM in the A+T-rich region. Finally, the phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed based on amino acid sequences of mitochondrial 13 PCGs, which support the traditional morphologically based view of relationships within the Noctuidae.
Highlights
The pink stem borer, Sesamia inferens (Walker), is an important rice pest that is widely distributed in China, Japan, India and other countries, and causes severe damage to rice crops in rice planting areas [1,2,3]
We report the completed mitogenome of S. inferens and provide a thorough description of its genomic features, including gene order, nucleotide composition of protein-coding genes (PCGs), secondary structures of tRNA and rRNA genes, and A+T-rich region
A total of 257 bp of intergenic spacer sequences were present in 18 locations with the exception of the A+T-rich region, and a total of 25 bp of overlapping nucleotides was scattered over six locations in the S. inferens mitogenome
Summary
The pink stem borer, Sesamia inferens (Walker), is an important rice pest that is widely distributed in China, Japan, India and other countries, and causes severe damage to rice crops in rice planting areas [1,2,3]. Compared with the nuclear genome, the animal mitogenome—except for lice [12]—usually has a smaller size, a stable and relatively short circular structure It has other characteristics such as a higher rate of base substitution and a presumed lack of intermolecular recombination. Mitogenome has been widely used as an informative molecular marker to reveal fundamental information for phylogenetic inference, the identification of species, phylogeography, the analysis of population structure and dynamics, and molecular evolution at the genomic level. This has been especially true for the past several decades, especially since the human mitogenome was sequenced [13]. Detailed genetic information on this important rice pest may help in the development of methods for its control or prevention
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