Abstract
In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Steppe polecat, Mustela eversmannii, was sequenced for the first time using muscle tissue. The mitochondrial genome is a circular molecule of 16 463 bp in length and overall base composition is A (32.7%), T (27.3%), C (26.1%), and G (13.9%), which indicates a strong A–T bias. A phylogenetic analysis on the basis of 13 protein-coding genes and two rRNA genes of 10 Mustela species’ mitochondrial genomes using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) demonstrated that these Mustela species were clustered into two clades and M. eversmannii was close to M. putorius.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. This research was supported by the Special Fund for Forest Scientific Research in the Public Welfare (201404420), the National Natural Science Fund of China (31372220 and 31172119), the Natural Science Fund of Shandong Province of China (ZR2011CM009), and the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (20113705110001).