The complete mitochondrial genome of the color changeable toad-headed agama, Phrynocephalus versicolor (Reptilia, Squamata, Agamidae)

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of color changeable toad-headed agama, Phrynocephalus versicolor, was determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), long-and-accurate PCR and directly sequencing by primer walking. The entire mitochondrial genome of P. versicolor was 16,429 bp in length, the accession was KJ749841 and the content of A, T, C, and G were 36.1%, 26.5%, 24.9% and 12.5%, respectively, which was similar to most vertebrate. The complete mitochondrial genome of P. versicolor contain 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 23 tRNA genes, plus one control region and was similar to those of other Phrynocephalus sand lizards in gene arrangement and composition, except that tRNA-Phe and tRNA-Pro were exchanged and tRNA-Phe had two copies. The control region comprised three parts, one between tRNA-Thr and tRNA-Phe, a second between tRNA-Pro and tRNA-Phe, and a third between tRNA-Phe and 12S RNA. The complete mitochondrial genome of P. versicolor provided fundamental data for resolving phylogenetic relationship problems related to Agaimidae and genus Phrynocephalus.

• Genome organization
• mitochondrial genome
• Phrynocephalus versicolor

Acknowledgements

We thank Tao Chen and Jianfeng Liu for their assistance in the laboratory work.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31301889), the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (20120211120040) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (lzujbky-2014-97).