Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa; Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd, P.O. Box 14356, Hatfield 0028, South Africa.
Gene. 2014 Jan 15;534(1):113-8. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.09.057. Epub 2013 Oct 22.
The complete mitochondrial genome of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) was sequenced. The molecule was sequenced via next generation sequencing and primer walking. The size of the genome is 17,346 bp in length. Comparison with the mitochondrial DNA of two other penguin genomes that have so far been reported was conducted namely; Little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) and the Rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome). This analysis made it possible to identify common penguin mitochondrial DNA characteristics. The S. demersus mtDNA genome is very similar, both in composition and length to both the E. chrysocome and E. minor genomes. The gene content of the African penguin mitochondrial genome is typical of vertebrates and all three penguin species have the standard gene order originally identified in the chicken. The control region for S. demersus is located between tRNA-Glu and tRNA-Phe and all three species of penguins contain two sets of similar repeats with varying copy numbers towards the 3' end of the control region, accounting for the size variance. This is the first report of the complete nucleotide sequence for the mitochondrial genome of the African penguin, S. demersus. These results can be subsequently used to provide information for penguin phylogenetic studies and insights into the evolution of genomes.
已对非洲企鹅（Spheniscus demersus）的完整线粒体基因组进行了测序。该分子通过下一代测序和引物行走进行了测序。基因组的大小为 17346bp。与迄今为止已报道的另外两个企鹅基因组的线粒体 DNA 进行了比较，即小蓝企鹅（Eudyptula minor）和跳岩企鹅（Eudyptes chrysocome）。这种分析使得确定常见的企鹅线粒体 DNA 特征成为可能。S. demersus mtDNA 基因组在组成和长度上都与 E. chrysocome 和 E. minor 基因组非常相似。非洲企鹅线粒体基因组的基因含量是典型的脊椎动物，这三个企鹅物种都具有最初在鸡中确定的标准基因顺序。S. demersus 的控制区位于 tRNA-Glu 和 tRNA-Phe 之间，这三个企鹅物种的控制区 3' 端都含有两套相似的重复序列，其拷贝数不同，这导致了控制区大小的变异。这是非洲企鹅 S. demersus 线粒体基因组完整核苷酸序列的首次报道。这些结果可随后用于为企鹅系统发育研究提供信息，并深入了解基因组的进化。
