The complete mitochondrial genome of the flesh fly, Muscina stabulans (Diptera: muscidae)

Abstract

In this study, we sequence the complete mitochondrial genome of Muscina stabulans (Diptera: Muscidae), a forensically important entomology, for the first time. The 15,933 bp circular genome contains the 37 genes found in a typical metazoan genome: 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 1 non-coding A + T-rich region. All the protein initiation codons are ATN, except for cox1 and ND1 that begin with TCG and TTG. The arrangement of the genes was the same as that found in the other insect. The overall base composition on heavy strand was as follows A: 40.00%, G: 8.80%, C: 13.34%, T: 37.86% and the A + T content 77.86%. The mitochondrial genome of Muscina stabulans presented will be valuable for resolving phylogenetic relationships within the family Muscidae and order Diptera, and could be used to identify favourable genetic markers for species identifications for forensic purposes.

Keywords:

• A + T-rich region
• forensic entomology
• identification
• tRNA
• species

Acknowledgements

We express our sincere thanks to Professor Jifeng Cai (Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, China), who kindly provided facilities to work.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. This study was supported by Science Foundation for The Youth Scholars of Central South University (NO.120925), the Natural Science Foundation for the Youth (NO. 81302621).