First complete mitochondrial genome of a Gripopterygid stonefly from the sub-order Antarctoperlaria: Zelandoperla fenestrata

Comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes among the family Peltoperlidae (Plecoptera: Systellognatha) and phylogenetic implications

Nowadays, the position of Peltoperlidae in Systellognatha has been resolved based on morphological analyses. However, there are different opinions based on molecular data. To date, only three peltoperlid mitogenomes are available, and more sampling is needed to obtain precise phylogenetic relationships. In this study, we obtained the complete mitogenomes of Cryptoperla kawasawai (15,832 bp) and Peltoperlopsis sagittata (15,756 bp). Our results show that gene content, gene order, DmTTF binding site, nucleotide composition, codon usage, ribonucleic acid (RNA) structure, and structural elements in the control region are highly conserved in peltoperlids. Heatmap analysis of codon usage shows that the AT-rich codons UUA, AUU, UUU, and AUA were commonly used codons in the Peltoperlidae. Evolutionary rate analyses of protein-coding genes reveal that different genes have been subject to different rates of molecular evolution correlated with the GC content. All tRNA genes in peltoperlid mitogenomes have a canonical cloverleaf secondary structure except for trnS1, whose dihydrouridine arm simply forms a loop. The control region of the family has several distinct structural characteristics and has the potential to serve as effective phylogenetic markers. Phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of Perloidea, but the monophyly of Pteronarcyoidea is still not supported. The Peltoperlidae is placed as the earliest branch within the Systellognatha, and the estimated phylogenetic relationship is: Peltoperlidae + {(Styloperlidae + Pteronarcyidae) + [Perlidae + (Chloroperlidae + Perlodidae)]}. Our results provide new insight into the phylogeny of this group.

Two Complete Mitochondrial Genomes From Leuctridae (Plecoptera: Nemouroidea): Implications for the Phylogenetic Relationships Among Stoneflies

The family-level relationships within Plecoptera have been a focused area of research for a long time. Its higher classification remains unstable, and the phylogenetic relationships within Plecoptera should be re-examined. Here, we sequenced and analyzed two complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of Paraleuctra cercia and Perlomyia isobeae of the family Leuctridae. We reconstructed the phylogeny of Plecoptera based on 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) from published stoneflies. Our results showed that the Bayesian inference and maximum-likelihood tree had similar topological structures except for the positions of two families, Peltoperlidae and Scopuridae. The Plecoptera is divided into two clades, the suborder Antarctoperlaria and the suborder Arctoperlaria. The two suborders subsequently formed two groups, Eusthenioidea and Gripopterygoidea, and Euholognatha and Systellognatha, which is consistent with the results of morphological studies. In addition, the Leuctridae is the earliest branch within the superfamily Nemouroidea. But the monophyly of Perloidea and Pteronarcyoidea are still not well supported.