Complete mitochondrial genomes of three Oxya grasshoppers (Orthoptera) and their implications for phylogenetic reconstruction

• Published in: Genomics (San Diego, Calif.) Calif.), 2020-01, Vol.112 (1), p.289-296
• Main Authors: Li, Ran, Wang, Yuqi, Shu, Xiaohan, Meng, Ling, Li, Baoping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acrididae; Mitogenome; Oxya; Phylogenetic analysis
• ISSN: 0888-7543; 1089-8646
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2019.02.008

Oxya is a genus of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) attacking rice and other gramineous plants in Africa and Asia. In the present study, we characterized complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of three species, Oxya japonica japonica (15,427 bp), Oxya hainanensis (15,443 bp) and Oxya agavisa robusta (15,552 bp) collected from China. The three mitogenomes contained a typical gene set of metazoan mitogenomes and shared the same gene order with other Acridid grasshoppers, including the rearrangement of tRNAAsp and tRNALys. Analyses of pairwise genetic distances showed that ATP8 was the least conserved gene, while COI the most conserved. To determine the position of Oxya grasshoppers in the phylogeny of Acrididae, we reconstructed phylogenetic trees among 64 species from across 11 subfamilies using nucleotide sequences of mitogenomes. While the tree confirms traditional classifications of Acrididae at major higher-levels, it suggests a few modifications for classifications at lower-levels. •This is the first study to characterize the complete mitochondrial genomes of Oxya japonica japonica, Oxya hainanensis and Oxya agavisa robusta.•The phylogenetic analyses confirm traditional classifications of Acrididae at major higher-levels, and suggest a few modifications for classifications at lower-levels.