The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the pantropical earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Rhinodrilidae, Clitellata): Mitogenome characterization and phylogenetic positioning

Abstract

Abstract:Pontoscolex corethrurus (Müller, 1857) plays an important role in soil terrestrial ecosystems and has been widely used as an animal model for a large variety of ecological studies, in particular due to its common presence and generally high abundance in human-disturbed tropical soils. In this study we describe the complete mitochondrial genome of the peregrine earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus. This is the first record of a mitochondrial genome within the Rhinodrilidae family. Its mitochondrial genome is 14 835 bp in length containing 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes (PCG), 2 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes). It has the same gene content and structure as in other sequenced earthworms, but unusual among invertebrates it has several overlapping open reading frames. All genes are encoded on the same strand, most of the PCGs use ATG as the start codon except for NAD3, which uses GTG as the start codon. The T+A content of the mitochondrial genome is 59.9% (31.9% A, 27.9% T, 14.9% G, and 25.3% for C). The annotated genome sequence has been deposited in GenBank under the accession number KT988053.

The complete mitochondrial genome sequences of Japanese earthworms Metaphire hilgendorfi and Amynthas yunoshimensis (Clitellata: Megascolecidae)

“…Earthworms; Metaphire hilgendorfi; Amynthas yunoshimensis; complete mitochondrial genome Analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Megascolecidae family earthworms has been given special focus. After the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Lumbricus terrestris was determined (Boore and Brown 1995), the sequences of 28 earthworm species belonging to 4 families have now been published (Zhang et al 2014a(Zhang et al , 2014b(Zhang et al , 2015(Zhang et al , 2016(Zhang et al , 2019Wang et al 2015;Conrado et al 2017;Hong et al 2017;Shekhovtsov and Peltek 2019). Most of them are Chinese Megascolecidae earthworms, of which 22 species have been reported of belonging to the Pheretima complex.…”

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“…As in most Clitellata , the major non-coding region in P. corethurus mitochondrial genome was located between tRNA-Arg and tRNA-His . It was determined to be 318 bp in length, less than other reported Clitellata species (Zhang et al, 2016a), and it had a base composition that was rich in A and T (A+T=67,6%). Phylogenetic analyses within the Clitellata…”