Mitochondrial genome of Diaphania indica(saunders) (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) and implications for its phylogeny

Abstract

The cucumber moth, Diaphania indica (Saunders) (Lepipdoptera: Pyralidae) is an economically important insect pest of cucurbits and is widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Herein, we obtained entire mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence of D. indica using polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing method. The complete mitogenome of D. indica is 15,367bp long, including 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and an A+T rich element. Both the AT skew and GC skew are slightly negative in the newly sequenced mitogenome. All of the 12 PCGs initiate with canonical start codon (ATN), except for coxI that initiate with CGA. The A+T rich element of D. indica is 467bp long and contains many features common to Pyraloidea insects. In addition, we reconstructed phylogenetic relationships among the eight superfamiles of lepidopterans by employing Neighbor joining (NJ) and Maximum likelihood (ML) methods, and both yielded identical topologies. The phylogeny results supported the monophyly of lepidopteran superfamilies. Furthermore, phylogenetic tree showed that D. indica belongs to the Pyraloidea superfamily.

Keywords: Diaphania indica; Genome; Lepidoptera; Mitochondrial phylogeny; Pyraloidea.