Insight into the Phylogenetic Relationships among Three Subfamilies within Heptageniidae (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) along with Low-Temperature Selection Pressure Analyses Using Mitogenomes

Abstract

We determined 15 complete and two nearly complete mitogenomes of Heptageniidae belonging to three subfamilies (Heptageniinae, Rhithrogeninae, and Ecdyonurinae) and six genera (Afronurus, Epeorus, Leucrocuta, Maccaffertium, Stenacron, and Stenonema). Species of Rhithrogeninae and Ecdyonurinae had the same gene rearrangement of CR-I-M-Q-M-ND2, whereas a novel gene rearrangement of CR-I-M-Q-NCR-ND2 was found in Heptageniinae. Non-coding regions (NCRs) of 25–47 bp located between trnA and trnR were observed in all mayflies of Heptageniidae, which may be a synapomorphy for Heptageniidae. Both the BI and ML phylogenetic analyses supported the monophyly of Heptageniidae and its subfamilies (Heptageniinae, Rhithrogeninae, and Ecdyonurinae). The phylogenetic results combined with gene rearrangements and NCR locations confirmed the relationship of the subfamilies as (Heptageniinae + (Rhithrogeninae + Ecdyonurinae)). To assess the effects of low-temperature stress on Heptageniidae species from Ottawa, Canada, we found 27 positive selection sites in eight protein-coding genes (PCGs) using the branch-site model. The selection pressure analyses suggested that mitochondrial PCGs underwent positive selection to meet the energy requirements under low-temperature stress.

The First Two Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Neoephemeridae (Ephemeroptera): Comparative Analysis and Phylogenetic Implication for Furcatergalia

“…The nucleotide compositions of the two mitogenomes are summarized in Table 2. Both whole mitogenomes were biased in base composition ((A + T)% > (G + C)%), which is consistent with the genomes from other insects [25]. The A + T content of the complete sequence was 73.38% for P. edmundsi and 73.07% for P. projecta (Table 2).…”

“…However, our previous study using mitogenomes showed that Leptophlebiidae was clustered with the group (Caenidae + Baetidae) [24]. In the newly published research by Xu et al (2021), the results placed Caenidae as a sister group of (Baetidae + Teloganodidae) and Leptophlebiidae was then consolidated together [25]. Over the past decade, multiple phylogenetic trees using mitogenomes were reconstructed and all of these included only a subset of Ephemeroptera families due to a lack of taxon sampling [24,25].…”

“…In the newly published research by Xu et al (2021), the results placed Caenidae as a sister group of (Baetidae + Teloganodidae) and Leptophlebiidae was then consolidated together [25]. Over the past decade, multiple phylogenetic trees using mitogenomes were reconstructed and all of these included only a subset of Ephemeroptera families due to a lack of taxon sampling [24,25]. Until now, the phylogenetic relationships of different families in Furcatergalia remain unresolved at the mitogenome level.…”

Cryptic Species Exist in Vietnamella sinensis Hsu, 1936 (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) from Studies of Complete Mitochondrial Genomes

“…Insect mt genomes are usually double-stranded circular molecules of 14–20 kb in length, encoding 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), and a control region (CR; AT-rich region) [ 2 ]. Many researchers have stimulated great interest in the insects’ mt genome including testing hypotheses about microevolution, mt gene expression, population structure analysis, phylogenetic relationships, and identification of cryptic species [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Since William Derham discovered the first cryptic species in 1718, these species are still a principal subject of several research areas and actually have a history of 300 years [ 18 ].…”

Comparative Mitogenomes of Two Coreamachilis Species (Microcoryphia: Machilidae) along with Phylogenetic Analyses of Microcoryphia

“…To date, various studies of mammalian [ 34 , 35 ], avian [ 36 ], frog [ 33 ], fish [ 37 ], and insect mitogenomes have indicated that adaptive evolution has occurred. Among insects, this has included studies of Hymenoptera [ 38 ], Orthoptera [ 39 ], Ephemeroptera [ 40 ], Diptera [ 41 ], and Lepidoptera [ 42 ]. Thus, the mitogenome can be used as a molecular tool to explore/assess adaptive evolution.…”