Mitochondrial genome of Amphimallon solstitiale (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) and phylogenetic analysis

Abstract

To better understand the diversity and phylogeny of Scarabaeidae, we sequenced and annotated the nearly complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Amphimallon solstitiale (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). This mitogenome was 13,755 bp long and encoded 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 19 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) and two ribosomal RNA unit genes. The A. solstitiale mitogenome with an A + T content of 69.45% presented a positive AT-skew (0.052) and a negative GC-skew (−0.236). Eleven PCGs started with a typical ATN codon, whereas the remaining two PCGs used CAC (cox1) and GTT (cox2) as the initial codon. All tRNAs had a typical secondary cloverleaf structure, except for trnS1 which lacked the dihydrouridine arm. The Bayesian phylogenetic analysis based on mitogenomic data recovered a phylogeny within Scarabaeidae as (Echirinae + (Scirtifomia + (Aphodiinae + (Melolonthinae + (Rutelinae + Cetoniinae))))).

Keywords

• insects
• scarab beetles
• mitochondrial dna
• phylogeny