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Cardoso DC, Baldez BCL, Pereira AH, Kalapothakis E, Rosse IC, Cristiano MP. De novo assembly of the complete mitochondrial genome of Mycetophylax simplex Emery, 1888 through organelle targeting revels no substantial expansion of gene spacers, but rather some slightly shorter genes. Mol Genet Genomics 2024; 299:16. [PMID: 38411741 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-024-02099-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Mitochondria play a key role in cell biology and have their own genome, residing in a highly oxidative environment that induces faster changes than the nuclear genome. Because of this, mitochondrial markers have been exploited to reconstruct phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships in studies of adaptation and molecular evolution. In this study, we determined the complete mitogenome of the fungus-farming ant Mycetophylax simplex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and conducted a comparative analysis among 29 myrmicine ant mitogenomes. Mycetophylax simplex is an endemic ant that inhabits sand dunes along the southern Atlantic coast. Specifically, the species occur in the ecosystem known as "restinga", within the Atlantic Forest biome. Due to habitat degradation, land use and decline of restinga habitats, the species is considered locally extinct in extremely urban beaches and is listed as vulnerable on the Brazilian Red List (ICMBio). We employed a mitochondrion-targeting approach to obtain the complete mitogenome through high-throughput DNA sequencing technology. This method allowed us to determine the mitogenome with high performance, coverage and low cost. The circular mitogenome has a length of 16,367 base pairs enclosing 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and 2 rRNAs) along with one control region (CR). All the protein-coding genes begin with a typical ATN codon and end with the canonical stop codons. All tRNAs formed the fully paired acceptor stems and fold into the typical cloverleaf-shaped secondary structures. The gene order is consistent with the shared Myrmicinae structure, and the A + T content of the majority strand is 81.51%. Long intergenic spacers were not found but some gene are slightly shorter. The phylogenetic relationships based on concatenated nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the 13 protein-coding genes, using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference methods, indicated that mitogenome sequences were useful in resolving higher-level relationship within Formicidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danon Clemes Cardoso
- Genetics and Evolution of Ants Research Group - GEF, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Mina Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil.
| | - Brenda Carla Lima Baldez
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Mina Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil
| | - Adriana Heloísa Pereira
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-010, Brazil
| | - Evanguedes Kalapothakis
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-010, Brazil
| | - Izinara Cruz Rosse
- Departamento de Farmácia, Escola de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil
| | - Maykon Passos Cristiano
- Genetics and Evolution of Ants Research Group - GEF, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Mina Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil
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Xiong Z, He D, Guang X, Li Q. Novel tRNA Gene Rearrangements in the Mitochondrial Genomes of Poneroid Ants and Phylogenetic Implication of Paraponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Life (Basel) 2023; 13:2068. [PMID: 37895449 PMCID: PMC10608118 DOI: 10.3390/life13102068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Ants (Formicidae) are the most diverse eusocial insects in Hymenoptera, distributed across 17 extant subfamilies grouped into 3 major clades, the Formicoid, Leptanilloid, and Poneroid. While the mitogenomes of Formicoid ants have been well studied, there is a lack of published data on the mitogenomes of Poneroid ants, which requires further characterization. In this study, we first present three complete mitogenomes of Poneroid ants: Paraponera clavata, the only extant species from the subfamily Paraponerinae, and two species (Harpegnathos venator and Buniapone amblyops) from the Ponerinae subfamily. Notable novel gene rearrangements were observed in the new mitogenomes, located in the gene blocks CR-trnM-trnI-trnQ-ND2, COX1-trnK-trnD-ATP8, and ND3-trnA-trnR-trnN-trnS1-trnE-trnF-ND5. We reported the duplication of tRNA genes for the first time in Formicidae. An extra trnQ gene was identified in H. venator. These gene rearrangements could be explained by the tandem duplication/random loss (TDRL) model and the slipped-strand mispairing model. Additionally, one large duplicated region containing tandem repeats was identified in the control region of P. clavata. Phylogenetic analyses based on protein-coding genes and rRNA genes via maximum likelihood and Bayes methods supported the monophyly of the Poneroid clade and the sister group relationship between the subfamilies Paraponerinae and Amblyoponinae. However, caution is advised in interpreting the positions of Paraponerinae due to the potential artifact of long-branch attraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zijun Xiong
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
- BGI Research, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Ding He
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;
| | | | - Qiye Li
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
- BGI Research, Wuhan 430074, China
- BGI Research, Shenzhen 518083, China;
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Complete Nucleotide Sequence of the Mitogenome of Tapinoma ibericum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae), Gene Organization and Phylogenetics Implications for the Dolichoderinae Subfamily. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13081325. [PMID: 35893062 PMCID: PMC9332376 DOI: 10.3390/genes13081325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The ant Tapinoma ibericum Santschi, 1925 is native to the Iberian Peninsula. This species, as well as other species from the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex, could form supercolonies that make these species potentially invasive and could give rise to pests. Recently a mature colony from this species has been found in the Isle of Wight (United Kingdom). Mitogenomes have been used to study the taxonomy, biogeography and genetics of species, improving the development of strategies against pest invasion. However, the number of available mitogenomes from the subfamily Dolichoderinae is still scarce and only two of these mitogenomes belong to Tapinoma species. Herein, the complete mitogenome of T. ibericum is presented in order to increase the molecular information of the genus. The T. ibericum mitogenome, retrieved by Next-Generation Sequencing data, is 15,715 bp in length. It contains the typical set of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNAs and the A + T-rich control region. Comparisons of the T. ibericum mitogenome with other dolichoderine mitogenomes revealed the existence of four gene rearrangements in relation with the ancestral insect mitogenome. One of these rearrangements, involving the tRNA-Ile, tRNA-Gln and tRNA-Met genes, was found in most of the analyzed ant mitogenomes. Probably this rearrangement was an ancestral or plesiomorphic character in Formicidae. Interestingly, another rearrangement that affects to tRNA-Trp, tRNA-Cys and tRNA-Tyr genes was found only in Tapinoma species. This change could be a synapomorphic character for the genus Tapinoma, and could be used as a phylogenetic marker. Additionally, a phylogenetic analysis was performed using the protein-coding gene sequences from available Dolichoderinae mitogenomes, as well as mitogenomes from representative species from other Formicidae subfamilies. Results support the monophyletic nature of the genus Tapinoma placing it within the same clade as the rest of Dolichoderinae species.
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Luo XY, Yin RY, Huang XQ, Luo Y, Zhou ZM. The complete mitochondrial genome of Aphaenogaster japonica (Forel, 1911) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Mitochondrial DNA B Resour 2022; 7:1270-1272. [PMID: 35844975 PMCID: PMC9278423 DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2022.2095937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Aphaenogaster japonica (Forel, 1911) is an omnivorous ant that is widely distributed in eastern Asia. The mitochondrial genome of A. japonica reported here was 18,607 bp in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and a control region. The base composition was AT biased (the GC ratio is 18.9%). With A. japonica added, we obtain weak evidence that the sister group of the Stenammini group, including Aphaenogaster, is the Myrmicini group. Therefore, the Stenammini and Myrmicini groups may be not a robust monophyletic group, unlike the previous results based on the complete mitochondrial genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin-Yu Luo
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Ru-Yi Yin
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Xiang-Qin Huang
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Yi Luo
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Zhao-Min Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China.,Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Biodiversity Conservation (Sichuan Province), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
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Sang Y, Yin RY, Luo Y, Zhou ZM. The complete mitochondrial genome of Pheidole nodus (Smith, 1874) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Mitochondrial DNA B Resour 2022; 7:451-453. [PMID: 35274040 PMCID: PMC8903746 DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2022.2047118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Pheidole nodus (Smith, 1874) belongs to a famously hyperdiverse and ecologically dominant ant genus. The mitochondrial genome of P. nodus is 15,579 bp in length, and the overall base composition is 78.6% AT. It includes 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and a control region. Phylogenetic trees show that P. nodus is more closely related to Wasmannia than to Atta. These sequence data will play an important role in the investigation of the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of the group Attini.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Sang
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Ru-Yi Yin
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Yi Luo
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
| | - Zhao-Min Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China.,Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Biodiversity Conservation (Sichuan Province), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
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