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Complete mitochondrial genomes of two cockroaches, Blattella germanica and Periplaneta americana, and the phylogenetic position of termites

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Abstract

The mitochondrial genomes are one of the most information-rich markers in phylogenetics. The relationships within superorder Dictyoptera have been debated in the literature. However, the closely related termites (Isoptera) are retained as unranked taxon within the order Blattaria (cockroaches). In this work, we sequenced the complete mitogenomes of two cockroaches, reconstructed the molecular phylogeny and attempted to infer the phylogenetic position of termites in Blattaria more reliably. The complete mtDNA nucleotide sequences of the peridomestic American cockroach (Periplaneta americana L.) and the domestic German cockroach (Blattella germanica L.) are 15,025 and 15,584 bp in size, respectively. The genome shares the gene order and orientation with previously known Blattaria mitogenomes. Most tRNAs could be folded into the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, but the tRNA-Ser (AGN) of P. americana appears to be missing the dihydrouridine arm. Using nucleotide and amino acid sequences as phylogenetic markers, we proposed that termites should be treated as a superfamily (Termitoidea) of cockroaches. We suggested that Polyphagoidea was the sister group of Termitoidea in Blattaria and supported that the suborder Caelifera is more closely related to the Phasmatodea than to the suborder Ensifera of Orthoptera.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gang Liu for his assistance in PCR amplification. We also thank four anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. The study is supported by the grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 30670257 and 30770307) and the National Basic Research Program of China (2007CB411604).

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  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Wenyuan Road 1, Nanjing, 210046, China

    Bo Xiao, Ai-Hui Chen, Yan-Yan Zhang, Guo-Fang Jiang & Chao-Chao Hu

  2. Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Chao-Dong Zhu

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  1. Bo Xiao
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Correspondence to Guo-Fang Jiang.

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Communicated by L. Tomaska.

B. Xiao and A.-H. Chen contributed equally to this work.

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Xiao, B., Chen, AH., Zhang, YY. et al. Complete mitochondrial genomes of two cockroaches, Blattella germanica and Periplaneta americana, and the phylogenetic position of termites. Curr Genet 58, 65–77 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-012-0365-7

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