Complete mitochondrial genome of the seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which is one of the best known insects capable of predation, is described with an emphasis on the noteworthy composition of the A+T-rich region. The C. septempunctata genome consists of 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, 13 protein-coding genes, and 1 control region, designated as the A+T-rich region in insects. Along with an unusually long A+T-rich region (4469 bp), the 18,965-bp long C. septempunctata mitogenome was the largest in Coleoptera. The A+T-rich region is composed of a 2214-bp long non-repeat region composed of 80.17% A/T nucleotides and a 2256-bp long repeat region composed of 65.71% A/T nucleotides. The repeat region harbors 32 identical 70-bp long tandem repeats plus one 15-bp long incomplete first repeat. These repeat sequences may possibly have been caused by slipped-strand mispairing and unequal crossing-over events during DNA replication.

Keywords::

• Mitochondrial genome
• Coccinella septempunctata
• A+T-rich region
• tandem repeat sequences

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by a Grant (Code 2007040134004) from the Biogreen 21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.