Complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome of Schlegel's tree frog Rhacophorus schlegelii (family Rhacophoridae): duplicated control regions and gene rearrangements

Abstract

The complete nucleotide sequence (21,359 bp) of the mitochondrial DNA of the rhacophorid frog Rhacophorus schlegelii was determined. The gene content, nucleotide composition, and codon usage of this genome corresponded to those typical of vertebrates. However, the Rh. schlegelii genome was unusually large due to the inclusion of two control regions and the accumulation of lengthy repetitive sequences in these regions. The two control regions had 97% sequence similarity over 1,510 bp, suggesting the occurrence of concerted sequence evolution. Comparison of the gene organizations among anuran species revealed that the mitochondrial gene arrangement of Rh. schlegelii diverged from that of typical vertebrates but was similar to that of Buergeria buergeri. The positions of the tRNA-Leu(CUN) and tRNA-Thr genes were exchanged between Rh. schlegelii and B. buergeri . Based on parsimonious consideration and the basal phylogenetic position of B. buergeri , these genes seemed to have been rearranged in an ancestral lineage leading to Rh. schlegelii .

Systematic relationships of Oriental tiny frogs of the family Microhylidae (Amphibia, Anura) as revealed by mtDNA genealogy

“…from Peninsular Malaysia that has been confused with K. pleurostigma (Matsui, unpublished). We used Kassina senegalensis, Hyperolius viridiflavus, and Rhacophorus schlegelii (GenBank AB 202078: Sano et al, 2005) as outgroup taxa. Kassina and Hyperolius are hyperoliids in the Afrobatrachia, which is the sister clade of Microhylidae, and together forms Allodapanura, whereas Rhacophorus is a rhacophorid, which belongs to Natatanura, the sister group of Allodapanura (Frost et al, 2006).…”

Mitochondrial genomes of Japanese <i>Babina</i> frogs (Ranidae, Anura): unique gene arrangements and the phylogenetic position of genus <i>Babina</i>

“…The mt genomes generally span a length of 16 kbp, but some vary from 15 to 21 kbp (Sano et al, 2005). These mt genomes typically encode 37 genes for 2 ribosomal RNAs (12S and 16S rrns), 22 transfer RNAs (trns), and 13 proteins (ATPase subunits 6 and 8 (atp6 and 8); cytochrome oxidase subunits I, II, and III (cox1-3); cytochrome b apoenzyme (cob); and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 4L (nad1-6 and 4L)).…”

Complete mitochondrial genomes and novel gene rearrangements in two dicroglossid frogs, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus and Euphlyctis hexadactylus, from Bangladesh

“…In Natatanurans, four tRNA mt genes are commonly rearranged from the classic type and these tRNAs form the LTPF tRNA cluster (Sumida et al, 2001;Zhang et al, 2005;Kurabayashi et al, 2006). Further gene rearrangements have been identified in Natatanurans; Rachophoridae and Mantellidae mt genes are highly rearranged, and a large number of rachophorid and mantellid mt genes contain duplicated or triplicated control regions and tRNA genes (Sano et al, 2004(Sano et al, , 2005Kurabayashi et al, 2006Kurabayashi et al, , 2008. Generally, the arrangement of the mt genome is thought to reflect phylogenetic relationships (Boore andBrown, 1994, 1998;Macey et al, 2000), because the possibility of an identical gene order arising independently is very small due to the low arrangement frequency of the 37 mt genes.…”