The complete mitochondria genome of Sarcophaga africa (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)

Abstract

Sarcophaga africa (S. africa) is a significant medical and forensic insect which belongs to the Sarcophagidae. The species identification of the forensically important genus Sarcophaga is difficult and requires strong morphology and taxonomic expertise. With the sequencing technique improved, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of the S. africa for the first time to assist species identification. The 37 genes presented in the 15,144 bp circular genome has been found which include 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. The array of the genes has much resemblance with other discovered insects. The overall base compositions of A, G, C and T are 39.43%, 9.64%, 14.61% and 36.31% respectively. The complete mitochondrial genome of S. africa could be valuable to enriching the Dipteran mitochondrial genomes and be helpful for entomologists to screen reliable molecular markers in the species identifications with forensic entomology purposes or phylogenetic analysis.

• Mitochondria genome
• Sarcophaga africa
• species identification

Declaration of interest

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

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81373249, 81302615), Central South university student innovation test plan (2282014bks163, CY14231).