The complete mitochondrial genome sequence ofLepus tolaiin Xinjiang

Abstract

Lepus tolai has a wide geographic distribution in the world, and there are some taxonomic confusions due to lack of studies. The complete mitochondrial genome of L. tolai in Xinjiang is 17,047 bp long with 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNAs, two rRNAs, and a control region. The overall base composition is 31.81% of A, 29.40% of T, 25.67%of C, and 13.12% of G, showing AT-rich. Phylogenetic analysis results showed that L. tolai is closely related to Lepus timidus, and distantly related to Lepus earoupenses and Lepus capensis. The new mtDNA data will supplement the mitochondrial gene pool of Lepus and helpful for validating taxonomic status of L. tolai on mtDNA level.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Lepus yarkandensis Günther, 1875 (Lagomorpha, Leporidae): characterization and phylogenetic analysis

“…The total length of PCGs in the L. yarkandensis mitogenome was 11,417 bp, and its base composition was 30.50% for A, 30.90% for T, 12.00% for G, and 26.50% for C with an A+T bias of 61.40%. Among the 13 PCGs , 12 were located on the heavy strand (H strand), whereas ND6 was located on the light strand (Tables 2 , 3 ), as observed in other Lepus species ( Ding et al 2014 ; Shan et al 2020 ).…”

“…Moreover, A and C were more popular than T and G with overall AT skew = 0.034 and GC skew = –0.320 in the entire L. yarkandensis mitogenome (Table 3 ). These overall genome composition and skewness are highly similar to those of other Lepus spp., such as L. yarkandensis ( MN450151 ), Lepus coreanus and Lepus tolai ( Yu et al 2015 ; Huang et al 2019 ; Shan et al 2020 ). However, in species such as Caenorhabditis elegans , Ascaris suum , and Mytilus edulis , different AT and GC skew values were determined-negative AT skew and positive GC skew (Perna et al 1995).…”

Population genetics analysis of Tolai hares (Lepus tolai) in Xinjiang, China using genome-wide SNPs from SLAF-seq and mitochondrial markers

“…However, since the low differences in morphology, and hybridization among hares, their classification has been challenging (Liu et al, 2011). Tolai hares were once classified as Cape hares (L. capensis) or Brown hares, but studies based on molecular biology (Wu et al, 2005;Wang and Yang, 2012;Shan et al, 2020b) and skull measurements (Cheng et al, 2012) did not support the classification of "L. capensis" in China as L. capensis. Therefore, the original Xinjiang's "L. capensis" population was divided into L. tibetanus and L. tolai, and the population distributed in the north of the Tianshan Mountains was classified as L. tolai (Shan et al, 2020a).…”

“…Wu et al (Wu et al, 2011) found extensive bidirectional mitochondrial DNA and SRY gene introgression in hybrids of Yarkand hare and Xinjiang "L. capensis". Recently, some studies have mapped the full mitochondrial genome of the Xinjiang Tolai hare (Shan et al, 2020b). However, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of their genetic diversity and structure related to habitat and climate changes, and research on the biology of this species is scarce.…”