title: Mitochondrial genomes of two luminous beetles, Rhagophthalmus lufengensis and R. ohbai (Arthropoda, Insecta, Coleoptera).
abstract: We determined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of two luminous beetles (Arthropoda, Insecta, Coleoptera), Rhagophthalmus lufengensis from Yunnan, China and Rhagophthalmus ohbai from Yaeyama Island, Japan. We identified all the 37 mtDNA genes of R. lufengensis (15,982 bp) and the 34 genes of R. ohbai (15,704 bp). R. lufengensis and R. ohbai genomes have higher A + T contents than other coleopteran genomes although the gene arrangements are similar. Interestingly, in a study of the evolutionary relationship among R. lufengensis, R. ohbai and the firefly Pyrocoelia rufa, the phylogenetic tree inferred from lrRNA genes from mitochondrial genomes indicates a biogeographic relationship among the bioluminescent insects in East Asia and the phylogenetic tree inferred from luciferase-related genes from nuclear genomes shows an appropriate relationship among coleopterans, reflecting the evolutionary origin of bioluminescence. Thus, the mtDNAs of luminescent beetles can provide an insight into their evolutionary origin and biogeography.
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 Jiaochang Donglu, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xueyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Katsunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogoh
authors.forename: Nobuyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohba
authors.forename: Xingcai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohmiya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics*; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D049750:Genome, Insect; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D012343:RNA, Transfer