The Mitochondrial Genomes of 18 New Pleurosticti (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Exhibit a Novel trnQ-NCR-trnI-trnM Gene Rearrangement and Clarify Phylogenetic Relationships of Subfamilies within Scarabaeidae

Abstract

The availability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in recent years has facilitated a revolution in the availability of mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences. The mt genome is a powerful tool for comparative studies and resolving the phylogenetic relationships among insect lineages. The mt genomes of phytophagous scarabs of the subfamilies Cetoniinae and Dynastinae were under-represented in GenBank. Previous research found that the subfamily Rutelinae was recovered as a paraphyletic group because the few representatives of the subfamily Dynastinae clustered into Rutelinae, but the subfamily position of Dynastinae was still unclear. In the present study, we sequenced 18 mt genomes from Dynastinae and Cetoniinae using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to re-assess the phylogenetic relationships within Scarabaeidae. All sequenced mt genomes contained 37 sets of genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and two ribosomal RNAs), with one long control region, but the gene order was not the same between Cetoniinae and Dynastinae species. All mt genomes of Dynastinae species showed the same gene rearrangement of trnQ-NCR-trnI-trnM, whereas all mt genomes of Cetoniinae species showed the ancestral insect gene order of trnI-trnQ-trnM. Phylogenetic analyses (IQ-tree and MrBayes) were conducted using 13 protein-coding genes based on nucleotide and amino acid datasets. In the ML and BI trees, we recovered the monophyly of Rutelinae, Cetoniinae, Dynastinae, and Sericinae, and the non-monophyly of Melolonthinae. Cetoniinae was shown to be a sister clade to (Dynastinae + Rutelinae).

Revisiting trends in morphology of antennal sensilla in scarabaeoid beetles

“…3M-N). The highest variation of sensilla morphology we found in Scarabaeidae, of which, however, the monophyly (Timmermanns et al 2016;Zhang et al 2018;Song and Zhang 2018;McKenna et al 2019;Ayivi et al 2021) is still subject to some controversy since some molecular phylogenies did not confirm monophyly (Hunt et al 2007;Bocak et al 2014;Ahrens et al 2014;Cai et al 2022; see Fig. 3 based on Neito Moreno et al 2019).…”

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

“…Among our newly sequenced mantis mitogenomes, the gene rearrangement regions covered those seen in previous studies such as the K-D cluster and the A-R-N cluster [ 8 , 11 , 30 ], as weak as a new rearrangement region ( Cytb-S2-ND1 ). Up to now, explanation of gene rearrangements has commonly used the tandem duplication–random loss (TDRL) model in insects, especially in Mantodea [ 6 , 32 , 35 , 37 , 81 ]. Therefore, this model was equally applicable to this study ( Figure 1 ).…”

“…The gene arrangement of almost all insect mitogenomes is compact according to the ancestral phenotype, but exceptions have been detected in some orders, including Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Ephemeroptera, and Mantodea, among others [ 28 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Gene rearrangements are a relatively common phenomenon in insects, but gene duplications are rare [ 26 ].…”

“…Similarly, both short NCRs and long NCRs (short NCRs ranging from 20 bp to 90 bp and long NCRs over 90 bp) between genes have been widely reported in insects as well as some unique characteristics in several orders or families [ 6 , 18 , 30 , 35 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. For instance, in Ephemeroptera, trnA -NCR- trnR (with a NCR ranging from 32 to 47 bp) was frequently found in all heptageniid mitogenomes (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) [ 49 ].…”

The Genetic Diversity in Thereuonema tuberculata (Wood, 1862) (Scutigeromorpha: Scutigeridae) and the Phylogenetic Relationship of Scutigeromorpha Using the Mitochondrial Genome

“…The mitochondrial genome has characteristics as follows: relatively high evolution rates, relatively small genomic size, relatively rare sequence recombination and maternal inheritance [ 31 , 32 ]. Hence, the mitochondrial genome has great potential for serving as a molecular marker of phylogenetic analyses [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Moreover, the features (gene order, gene copy and size of noncoding regions) and genetic divergence of the mitochondrial genome are used to identify cryptic species [ 36 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ].…”