Fragmented mitochondrial genomes in two suborders of parasitic lice of eutherian mammals (Anoplura and Rhynchophthirina, Insecta).

ABSTRACT: Parasitic lice (order Phthiraptera) infest birds and mammals. The typical animal mitochondrial (mt) genome organization, which consists of a single chromosome with 37 genes, was found in chewing lice in the suborders Amblycera and Ischnocera. The sucking lice (suborder Anoplura) known, however, have fragmented mt genomes with 9-20 minichromosomes. We sequenced the mt genome of the elephant louse, Haematomyzus elephantis - the first species of chewing lice investigated from the suborder Rhynchophthirina. We identified 33 mt genes in the elephant louse, which were on 10 minichromosomes. Each minichromosome is 3.5-4.2 kb in size and has 2-6 genes. Phylogenetic analyses of mt genome sequences confirm that the elephant louse is more closely related to sucking lice than to the chewing lice in th

SUBMITTER: Shao R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4663631 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature