Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of the Australian Heliothine moth, Australothis rubrescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

Australothis rubrescens is basal to the Helicoverpa lineage containing pests such as Helicoverpa armigera, H. assulta and H. gelotopoeon. An illumina library of DNA from A. rubrescens was constructed and shallow sequencing and assembly of the DNA was conducted. The complete mitochondrial genome was identified using similarity to the H. armigera mitochondrial genome. The mitochondrial genome of A. rubrescens is 15,382 bp in length. It contains 37 genes which are shared with the vast majority of animals: 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs and a non-coding AT-rich region (Table 1). As found in other Lepidopterans, the arrangement of all tRNAs of the A. rubrescens is identical to most insects. The complete mitochondrial genome of A. rubrescens will be an important tool in understanding the evolutionary history of the Heliothine moths.

• Australothis rubrescens
• Helicoverpa
• mitochondrial genome
• Noctuid

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dr Wee Tek Tay and Dr Lars Jermiin for their comments on the manuscript. Thanks also to Joel Armstrong and Bill James for maintaining the colony and Colin Tann for supplying the original field collected material.

Declaration of interest

The present work was supported by the Sustainable Agriculture Flagship and CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences.