Complete mitochondrial genome of Skylark, Alauda arvensis (Aves: Passeriformes): The first representative of the family Alaudidae with two extensive heteroplasmic control regions

Abstract

The circular mitochondrial genome of Alauda arvensis is 17,018 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and 2 extensive heteroplasmic control regions. All of the genes encoded on the H-strand, with the exceptions of one PCG (nad6) and eight tRNA genes (tRNA^Gln, tRNA^Ala, tRNA^Asn, tRNA^Cys, tRNA^Tyr, tRNA^Ser(UCN), tRNA^Pro, and tRNA^Glu), as found in other birds' mitochondrial genomes. All of these PCGs are initiated with ATG, while stopped by six types of stop codons. All tRNA genes have the potential to fold into typical clover-leaf structure. Two extensive heteroplasmic control regions were found, and more interestingly, a minisatellite of 37 nucleotides (5′-TCAATCCCATTGATTTCATTATATTAGTATAAAGAAA-3′) with 6 tandem repeats was detected at the end of CR2.

Keywords::

• Mitochondrial genome
• Alauda arvensis
• Alaudidae
• control regions
• Passeriformes

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Binghua Li, Xifeng Li, Liqin Zhang, Lei Chen, Jian Yuan, Weiwei Guo, and Juan Chen for their assistance, suggestions, and comments.

Declaration of interest: This study was supported by the Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecology Safety in Anhui Province, and the Programme for Innovative Research Team in Anhui Normal University. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.