Complete mitochondrial genome of sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus)

Phylogenetic perspective on the relationships and evolutionary history of the Acipenseriformes

The Acipenseriformes, as one of the earliest extant vertebrates, plays an important role in the evolution of fishes and even the whole vertebrates. Here we collected and analyzed all complete mitochondrial genomes of Acipenseriformes species. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the polytomous branch included Acipenseridae and Polyodontidae formed five clades. The Polyodontidae clade and the Scaphirhynchus clade both were monophyletic group, whereas the Acipenser species and the Huso species both were polyphyletic group. The Bayesian divergence times showed that the origin time for Acipenseriformes was at 318.0 Mya, which was similar to the some previous results of 312.1 Mya, 346.9 Mya and 389.7 Mya. The result was in good consistent with the paleontological data available and the split time of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous (Laurasia splits in North America and Eurasia). The dN/dS ratios showed the evolutionary rates gradually slow down in five major Acipenseriformes clades from the Clade A (the Pacific sturgeons species) to Clade C (the genus Scaphirhynchus), which was related to the process of geographical formation.

Complete mitochondrial genomes of the critically endangered Ship sturgeon Acipenser nudiventris from two seas

Two complete mitochondrial genome sequences of ship sturgeon Acipenser nudiventris from the Caspian Sea and from Balkhash Lake (introduced from the Aral Sea during the last century) were determined by PCR-based sequencing method. The whole mitogenome sequences have been deposited in GenBank under accession numbers KU321568 and KU321569.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedti)

Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedti) belongs to the Acipenseriformes Acipenseridae. In this study, we sequenced and characterized the complete mitochondrial genome of A. gueldenstaedti from National Sturgeon Hatchery, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences. The circular mitochondrial genome was determined to be 16,595 bp in length including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and 1 control region. The complete mitochondrial genome of A. gueldenstaedti provides basic genome data for relative studies on Acipenseriformes.