Complete mitochondrial genome of the “floppy-wing” morph reproductive termite, Reticulitermes labralis (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome of Reticulitermes labralis (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) was determined for its nucleotide sequence of 16 113 bp. Its gene content and organization were identical with other Reticulitermes species. The 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) have typical ATN initiation codon. But, the stop codons were TAA, TAG and an incomplete termination codon (T) abutting an adjacent tRNA gene. Twenty-two tRNA genes, in addition to tRNASer(AGN) replaced lacking of the DHU stem with a simple loop, showed the typical clover-leaf secondary structure. The A + T-rich region was 1311 bp in length with 65.98% A + T content. In addition to the A + T-rich region, non-coding sequences of the mtDNA genome harbored 17 intergenic spacers. There were three complete repeats of repeat A in CR, which were not discovered in other termite species. Phylogenetic tree based on the 11 complete mitochondrial genome sequences of closely related termite species accords well with morphological phylogenetic analysis.

• Isoptera
• mitochondrial genome
• phylogenetic analysis
• Reticulitermes labralis
• Rhinotermitidae

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr Wu Jia for his help in collecting samples. We also thank Dr You Ping (College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University) for assistance with the analytic software.

Declaration of interest

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170363 and 31370428). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.