Characterization and comparison of complete mitogenomes of three parrot species (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae)

Abstract

In this paper, we characterized the complete mitogenomes of Aratinga solstitialis, Pionites leucogaster, and Poicephalus senegalus through Sanger sequencing method. The full lengths of the three mitogenomes are 16,986 bp, 18,858 bp, and 18,022 bp, respectively. All genes exhibit original gene arrangement in A. solstitialis mitogenome, but gene rearrangements occur in P. leucogaster and P. senegalus mitogenomes. Bayesian tree indicated that the three parrots were not closely related to each other. The results obtained here can contribute to phylogenetic analysis and biological conservation of parrots further.

Keywords:

• Aratinga solstitialis
• Pionites leucogaster
• Poicephalus senegalus
• Parrot
• Mitogenome

According to statistics, there are about 400 species in the Psittaciformes (Parrot) around the world, but many of them are threatened with extinction (Olah et al. 2016; Heinsohn et al. 2018). Aratinga solstitialis is distributed in the semideciduous forests and savannas of north-eastern Roraima, Brazil, and adjacent Guyana (BirdLife International 2016a). Pionites leucogaster is only found in the lowland tropical rainforests from the Rio Madeira to Maranhão, Brazil (BirdLife International 2016b). Poicephalus senegalus is widely distributed in the forest and savanna of West African countries (BirdLife International 2016c). The wild populations of A. solstitialis and P. leucogaster are still decreasing, mainly due to the habitat loss and biological resource use. They have been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (BirdLife International 2016a, 2016b). However, the wild population of P. senegalus is so large and stable that it is listed as a species of least concern by IUCN (BirdLife International 2016c). Here, we characterized and compared the complete mitogenomes of the three parrots.

Captive-bred specimens of the three parrots were collected from Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo (N32°09′, E118°80′) and stored in College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University (Accessions HSZ201901-HSZ201903). DNA extraction, PCR reaction and product purification were carried out by the DNAiso reagent, Ex Taq and Minibest agarose gel DNA extraction kit, respectively (Takara, Beijing, China). Genome information was obtained through Sanger sequencing.

The complete mitogenomes of A. solstitialis (GenBank accession MK343132), P. leucogaster (GenBank accession MK759905) and P. senegalus (GenBank accession MK749396) were 16,986 bp, 18,858 bp, and 18,022 bp in length, respectively. All mitogenomes were AT-rich, with the following nucleotide compositions: 23.8% T, 31.9% C, 30.3% A, 14.0% G for A. solstitialis; 23.5% T, 32.4% C, 30.0% A, 14.0% G for P. leucogaster; 22.8% T, 33.0% C, 29.3% A, 14.9% G for P. senegalus. The data was in accordance with the nucleotide composition in the avian mitogenome (Eberhard and Wright 2016; Liu et al. 2019). The mitogenome of A. solstitialis included 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and a control region. Besides above components, there was another control region in P. leucogaster and P. senegalus, respectively.

To assess the phylogenetic positions of A. solstitialis, P. leucogaster, and P. senegalus, Bayesian tree was reconstructed based on complete mitogenomes of 20 parrot species using Turdus merula as an outgroup (Huelsenbeck et al. 2001). The phylogenetic tree indicated that the three parrots were not closely related to each other (Figure 1). P. leucogaster was closely related to Rhynchopsitta terrisi (Figure 1). P. senegalus was placed as sister to Poicephalus gulielmi of the same genus (Figure 1). However, unexpectedly, A. solstitialis did not cluster with other species of the same genus, suggesting the phylogenetic relationship among the species in Aratinga genus was not well solved (Figure 1). The complete mitogenomes obtained here provide important DNA data for phylogenetic analysis and biological conservation of parrots in further.

Figure 1. Bayesian tree of 20 parrots based on complete mitogenomes. T. merula was set as an outgroup. Posterior probability values are shown at nodes and numbers following scientific names are GenBank accessions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions [PAPD], and the Innovation Program of Jiangsu Undergraduates [2018NFUSPITP729].