Abstract
The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence of Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula was determined by shotgun sequencing. The total length of mitogenome is 16 730 bp, and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosome RNA genes and 1 control region (D-loop). All the protein-coding genes in T. merula were distributed on the H-strand, except for the ND6 subunit gene and eight tRNA genes which were encoded on the L-strand. The gene order and contents in the T. merula mitogenome is identical to that found in typical vertebrates. The phylogenetic tree of T. merula and 13 other species belonging to order Passeriformes was built. The DNA data presented here will be useful to study the evolutionary relationships and genetic diversity of T. merula.
Acknowlegements
We thank Dr. Song Huang (Huangshan University) for valuable comments on this manuscript. We also thank Shi-yang Weng and Jin Cheng (Huangshan University) for their help in collecting sample and data processing.
Declaration of interest
This project was funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.