Download free PDF

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence was determined from the plant hopper, Sivaloka damnosus Chow and Lu (Hemiptera: Issidae), a representative of the insect family Issidae. The genome is a circular molecule of 15,287 bp with a total A+T content of 76.5%. The gene content, order, and structure are identical to that in Drosophila melanogaster, which is considered ancestral for insects. All 13 protein-coding genes of the S. damnosus mitogenome have a putative inframe ATR methionine or ATT isoleucine codons as start signals. The usual termination codons (TAA and TAG) were found in 11 protein-coding genes. However, atp6, and nad4 have incomplete termination codons. All tRNAs show stable canonical clover-leaf structures similar to other insect mitochondrial tRNAs, except for tRNA^Ser(AGN), which has a reduced DHU arm. The A+T-rich region or putative control region includes two extensive repeat regions. The first repeat region is composed of two sets of complicated repeat units, and these repetitive sequences are arranged alternately; the second contains ten 20 bp tandemly repetitive sequences. In the phylogenetic analyses based on protein-coding genes, Cicadomorpha is a sister to Fulgoromorpha+Sternorrhyncha, and Heteroptera is a sister to all other Hemiptera.

Keywords: A+T-rich region, Issidae, Hemiptera, phylogeny

Correspondence: ^asongnan@ioz.ac.cn, ^b*liangap@ioz.ac.cn, ^cmachuan@ioz.ac.cn, *Corresponding author
Associate Editor: Zhijian Tu was editor of this paper.

Received: 18 November 2008 | Accepted: 26 August 2009 | Published: 25 June 2010

Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.  

ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 10, Number 76

Song N, Liang AP, Ma C. 2010. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the planthopper, Sivaloka damnosus. Journal of Insect Science 10:76, available online: insectscience.org/10.76