Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Ussurian moose, Alces alces cameloides

Abstract

Ussurian moose (Alces alces cameloides) in Northeast China, which is on the southmost edge of the species’ Eurasian range, are facing dramatic decline in population size and distribution areas. We undertook the first sequencing of the entire mitogenome of Ussurian moose, which is thought as the oldest moose subspecies to better understand the evolutionary history of this circumboreal sole extant species. The mitogenome is 16,418 bp in length, consisting of two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and one control region. The overall base composition is A: 33.7%, T: 30.1%, C: 23.2%, and G: 13.0%, with a much higher A + T content. The phylogenetic tree of moose and 10 other most closely related Cervidae species was built.

Keywords:

• Alces alces cameloides
• mitogenome
• Ussurian moose

Acknowledgements

We thank Xudong Yang of Hanma National Nature Reserve of Inner Mongolia for providing samples.

Declaration of interest

This study was supported by Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities of China (2572014EA06). The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.