Novel Mitochondrial Gene Rearrangement and Intergenic Regions Exist in the Mitochondrial Genomes from Four Newly Established Families of Praying Mantises (Insecta: Mantodea)

Abstract

Long non-coding regions (NCRs) and gene rearrangements are commonly seen in mitochondrial genomes of Mantodea and are primarily focused on three regions: CR-I-Q-M-ND2, COX2-K-D-ATP8, and ND3-A-R-N-S-E-F-ND5. In this study, eight complete and one nearly complete mitochondrial genomes of praying mantises were acquired for the purpose of discussing mitochondrial gene rearrangements and phylogenetic relationships within Mantodea, primarily in the newly established families Haaniidae and Gonypetidae. Except for Heterochaeta sp. JZ-2017, novel mitochondrial gene arrangements were detected in Cheddikulama straminea, Sinomiopteryx graham, Pseudovates chlorophaea, Spilomantis occipitalis. Of note is the fact that one type of novel arrangement was detected for the first time in the Cyt b-S2-ND1 region. This could be reliably explained by the tandem replication-random loss (TDRL) model. The long NCR between trnT and trnP was generally found in Iridopteryginae and was similar to the ND4L or ND6 gene. Combined with gene rearrangements and intergenic regions, the monophyly of Haaniidae was supported, whereas the paraphyly of Gonypetidae was recovered. Furthermore, several synapomorphies unique to some clades were detected that conserved block sequences between trnI and trnQ and gaps between trnT and trnP in Toxoderidae and Iridopteryginae, respectively.

Phylogenetic relationships and divergence dating of Mantodea using mitochondrial phylogenomics

“…was recovered as a rogue taxa and the nodal support for this clade is relatively low. The phylogenetic position of Haaniidae was recovered as sister to the remaining Cernomantodea, which disagrees with other phylogenetic studies (Lin et al, 2022; Schwarz & Roy, 2019; Svenson & Whiting, 2009). In the phylogeny of Svenson and Whiting (2009), Haania was the sister to Pseudothespis , followed by (Iridopteryginae + Gonypetinae).…”

“…Toxoderinae, Tarachodinae, Heterochaetinae and Iridinae formed a sister clade with (Miomantinae + Neodanuria ) in our results. A close relationship among Toxoderinae, Tarachodinae, Heterochaetinae and Iridinae was also recovered by Svenson and Whiting (2009) and Lin et al (2022). However, a sister group relationship between Neodanuria and Miomantinae was reported with high node support, making Popinae a paraphyletic group.…”

“…Schwarz and Roy (2019) established Mantimorpha (containing one superfamily Haanioidea) following Epaphroditoidea. By contrast, in the phylogeny of Lin et al (2022), Haaniidae and Iridopteryginae formed a sister clade based on mitogenomic data matrices. The outgroup taxon sampling, sampling proportion within Haaniidae and related clades, and other methodological differences may contribute to the uncertain phylogenetic position of Haaniidae among different studies.…”

“…In the phylogeny of Svenson and Whiting (2009), Haania was the sister to Pseudothespis, followed by (Iridopteryginae + Gonypetinae). Schwarz and Roy (2019) and Hymenopoidea was corroborated by several morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies (Lin et al, 2022;Svenson & Whiting, 2009;Xu et al, 2021;Ye et al, 2016), however, the phylogenetic position of (Popinae + Deroplatyinae) has not reached consensus.…”

“…In addition to the mitogenome itself, mitochondrial gene rearrangement events are also useful indicators in systematics (Boore & Brown, 1998; Rokas & Holland, 2000). Indeed, several studies have uncovered special mitochondrial structural information that could contribute to a better understanding of the process of mantis mitogenome evolution and the phylogeny of the group (Lin et al, 2022; Shi et al, 2021; Xu et al, 2021; Ye et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2019). In the current study, we sequenced 61 complete mitochondrial genomes covering 14 families, 25 subfamilies and 21 tribes of Mantodea (Schwarz & Roy, 2019 system).…”