The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Eimeria mitis (Apicomplexa: Coccidia)

Abstract

In this study the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of Eimeria mitis was sequenced, and its gene contents and genome organizations were compared with that of other Eimeria spp. The complete mt genome sequence of E. mitis is 6407 bp in size. It consists of 3 protein-coding genes (cox1, cox3, and cytb), 12 gene fragments for the large subunit (LSU) rRNA, and 7 gene fragments for the small subunit (SSU) rRNA, but no transfer RNA genes, similar to that of Eimeria spp. The putative direction of translation for three genes (cox1, cox3, and cytb) was the same as those of six other Eimeria spp. The A+T content of the E. mitis mt genome was 67.30%. The E. mitis mt genome sequence provides novel mtDNA marker for studying the molecular epidemiology and population genetics of E. mitis and has implications for the molecular diagnosis of chicken coccidiosis caused by E. mitis.

Keywords::

• Eimeria mitis
• mitochondrial genome
• coccidiosis
• chicken

Acknowledgements

This work was supported, in part, by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 10451064201005443), the Scientific and Technological Programs of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2009B020307011), the Open Funds of the State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Grant Nos SKLVEB2011KFKT004, SKLVEB2010KFKT010, and SKLVEB2009KFKT014), and the Yunnan Provincial Program for Introducing High-level Scientists (Grant No. 2009CI125).

Declaration of interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.