Characterization of the First Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Cyphonocerinae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) with Implications for Phylogeny and Evolution of Fireflies

Abstract

Complete mitochondrial genomes are valuable resources for phylogenetics in insects. The Cyphonoceridae represents an important lineage of fireflies. However, no complete mitogenome is available until now. Here, the first complete mitochondrial genome from this subfamily was reported, with Cyphonocerus sanguineus klapperichi as a representative. The mitogenome of C. sanguineus klapperichi was conserved in the structure and comparable to that of others in size and A+T content. Nucleotide composition was A+T-biased, and all genes exhibited a positive AT-skew and negative GC-skew. Two types of tandem repeat sequence units were present in the control region (136 bp × 2; 171 bp × 2 + 9 bp). For reconstruction of Lampyridae’s phylogeny, three different datasets were analyzed by both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. As a result, the same topology was produced by both ML analysis of 13 protein-coding genes and 2rRNA and BI analysis of 37 genes. The results indicated that Lampyridae, Lampyrinae, Luciolinae (excluding Emeia) were monophyletic, but Ototretinae was paraphyletic, of which Stenocladius was recovered as the sister taxon to all others, while Drilaster was more closely related to Cyphonocerinae; Phturinae + Emeia were included in a monophyletic clade, which comprised sister groups with Lampyridae. Vesta was deeply rooted in the Luciolinae.