The published complete mitochondrial genome of Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer) is a chimera with DNA from Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis) (Aves: Charadriiformes)

Abstract

AbstractA recently published complete mitochondrial genome of Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer) was the first DNA sequence of this species (GenBank accession number MK905885, RefSeq number NC_044665; Liu et al. 2019, The complete mitochondrial genome of the Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer (Charadriiforemes [sic]: Charadriidae), Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 4:2353–2354). Here we show that this mitogenome is actually a chimera containing DNA fragments of both a Tringa sandpiper (presumably T. guttifer) and the Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis). This mitogenome has been re-used in at least three phylogenies. The error is documented to avoid the perpetuation of erroneous sequence information in the literature.

Keywords

• Chimerism
• laboratory errors
• mitogenome
• sequence artifacts
• shorebirds