The complete mitochondrial genome of red frog crab Ranina ranina (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Raninidae)

Abstract

Although the brachyuran nature of Raninoidea is widely accepted, there is no consensus over the precise position of the Raninoidea within Brachyura. Long PCR and primer walking methods are employed to determine the first complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence of raninoidian crab, Ranina ranina. It is a circular double-stranded DNA molecule of 15,563 base pairs (bp) in length with a standard set of 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) as well as a putative non-coding control region. The gene order is substantially consistent with that of the pancrustacean ground pattern with the tRNA^His gene rearrangement. The basal placement of R. ranina in the phylogenetic tree integrated with a similar genomic organization to ancestral pancrustacea confirmed the primitive position of R. ranina in the Brachyura.

• Gene arrangement
• mitochondrial genome
• phylogeny
• Ranina ranina
• Raninoidea

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict interest. This study was supported by the “135” fund of Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2012IO060102) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (MOST grant no. 2013FY110700).