The complete mitochondrial genome of the Leopoldamys edwardsi (Rodentia: Muridae)

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome of L. edwardsi was first sequenced and characterized. The genome was 16,284 bases in length and the composition and arrangement of its genes are analogous to most other rodents. The nucleotide sequence date of 12 heavy-strand protein-coding genes of L. edwardsi and other 26 Muridae species were used for phylogenetic analyses. Trees constructed using Maximum Likelihood, Neighbor Joining and Minimum Evolution demonstrated that L. edwardsi was closer to the genus Niviventer than Rattus. Combing previous research, it suggests that Edward’s long-tailed rat is more suitable to be classified into genus Leopoldamys and named as Leopoldamys edwardsi. This study suggested that R. edwardsi is inappropriate for the other name of L. edwardsi.

• Complete mitochondrial genome
• Leopoldamys edwardsi
• phylogenetic analyses

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Ting Huang and Dr. Chaochao Yan at Sichuan University for their help in this study.

Declaration of interest

This research was funded by National Science and Technology Support Project of China (2012BAC01B06). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.