Comparative Mt Genomics of the Tipuloidea (Diptera: Nematocera: Tipulomorpha) and Its Implications for the Phylogeny of the Tipulomorpha

PLoS One. 2016 Jun 24;11(6):e0158167. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158167. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

A traditionally controversial taxon, the Tipulomorpha has been frequently discussed with respect to both its familial composition and relationships with other Nematocera. The interpretation of internal relationships within the Tipuloidea, which include the Tipulidae sensu stricto, Cylindrotomidae, Pediciidae and Limoniidae, is also problematic. We sequenced the first complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of Symplecta hybrida (Meigen, 1804), which belongs to the subfamily Chioneinae of family Limoniidae, and another five nearly complete mt genomes from the Tipuloidea. We did a comparative analysis of these mt genomics and used them, along with some other representatives of the Nematocera to construct phylogenetic trees. Trees inferred by Bayesian methods strongly support a sister-group relationship between Trichoceridae and Tipuloidea. Tipulomorpha are not supported as the earliest branch of the Diptera. Furthermore, phylogenetic trees indicate that the family Limoniidae is a paraphyletic group.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Composition
  • Codon
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Diptera / classification*
  • Diptera / genetics*
  • Genome, Mitochondrial*
  • Genomics
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • Phylogeny*
  • RNA, Transfer / chemistry
  • RNA, Transfer / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • Codon
  • RNA, Transfer

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31272354, 3141101151, 4151101023) and the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (2015NX001). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.