First record of the complete mitochondrial genome of Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) in Iraq and its phylogenetic analysis

Abstract

The common house mosquito, Culex pipiens, is a worldwide insect that is known as a vector of several human and animals’ pathogens that cause critical diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever and encephalitis. The mitochondrial genome knowledge can supply a foresight for evolutionary biology and phylogenetic analysis. Thus, in the current study, the complete mitochondrial genomes of the Iraqi C. pipiens were first sequenced, assembled, annotated, and analyzed using high throughput sequencing techniques. The results revealed that the length of the complete mitochondrial genome is 14,856 bp, comprising 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes. The A + T content was 77.09%, while the G+C content was only 22.1%. All PCGs open with the start codon ATN, except the cox1 gene and end with the stop codon TAA. A phylogenetic relatedness with other different species of Culex spp. was achieved by operating the molecular evolutionary genetic analysis based on the whole mitochondrial genome sequences. The results showed that C. pipiens from Iraq shares a close ancestry with C. pipiens from Tunisia and France. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Iraqi C. pipiens. As a consequence, this conclusion may provide a new profound insight into the evolution of C. pipiens in Iraq.