Abstract
We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the Madagascar ground gecko Paroedura picta (Squamata: Gekkonidae). The mitogenome is 17 220 base pairs long and conforms to the typical vertebrate gene composition and arrangement, i.e. 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 1919 bp long control region. We reconstructed phylogenetic relationships of P. picta and representatives of nine other genera from the family Gekkonidae and calculated mean p-distances for all 13 protein-coding mitochondrial genes. The lowest mean p-distances were found in cytochrome oxidase subunit I and III genes (COI and COIII) indicating their usefulness for elucidating deeper phylogenetic relationships.
Acknowledgements
We thank Jan Červenka and Lukáš Kratochvíl for their help, Jaroslav Vohánka for technical support during pyrosequencing and Chris Barratt for language proof reading.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. The work was supported by institutional resources of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic for the support of science and research.