Insect Resource Center for Engineering and Technology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.
Administration Bureau of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, Yunnan, Jinghong 666100, China.
Gene. 2014 Jul 15;545(1):95-101. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2014.05.002. Epub 2014 May 2.
Mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) can provide information for genomic structure as well as for phylogenetic analysis and evolutionary biology. In this study, we present the complete mitogenome of the atlas moth, Attacus atlas (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), a well-known silk-producing and ornamental insect with the largest wing surface area of all moths. The mitogenome of A. atlas is a circular molecule of 15,282 bp long, and its nucleotide composition shows heavily biased towards As and Ts, accounting for 79.30%. This genome comprises 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and an A+T-rich region. It is of note that this genome exhibits a slightly positive AT skew, which is different from the other known Saturniidae species. All PCGs are initiated by ATN codons, except for COI with CGA instead. Only six PCGs use a common stop codon of TAA or TAG, whereas the remaining seven use an incomplete termination codon T or TA. All tRNAs have the typical clover-leaf structure, with an exception for tRNA(Ser)(AGN). The A. atlas A+T-rich region contains non-repetitive sequences, but harbors several features common to the Bombycoidea insects. The phylogenetic relationships based on Maximum Likelihood method provide a well-supported outline of Saturniidae, which is in accordance with the traditional morphological classification and recent molecular works.
线粒体基因组（mitogenome）可以提供基因组结构信息，以及用于系统发育分析和进化生物学。在这项研究中，我们呈现了巨蚕蛾（Attacus atlas）（鳞翅目：天蚕蛾科）的完整线粒体基因组。巨蚕蛾是一种著名的产丝和观赏昆虫，其翅膀面积是所有蛾类中最大的。A. atlas 的线粒体基因组是一个长 15282bp 的圆形分子，其核苷酸组成严重偏向 As 和 Ts，占 79.30%。该基因组包括 13 个蛋白质编码基因（PCGs）、两个核糖体 RNA 基因（rRNAs）、22 个转移 RNA 基因（tRNAs）和一个富含 A+T 的区域。值得注意的是，这个基因组表现出轻微的正 AT 倾斜，与其他已知的天蚕蛾科物种不同。所有 PCGs 都以 ATN 密码子起始，除了 COI 用 CGA 代替。只有六个 PCGs 使用共同的终止密码子 TAA 或 TAG，而其余七个则使用不完整的终止密码子 T 或 TA。所有 tRNA 都具有典型的三叶草结构，但 tRNA(Ser)(AGN)除外。A. atlas 的 A+T 富含区包含非重复序列，但具有鳞翅目昆虫共有的几个特征。基于最大似然法的系统发育关系提供了天蚕蛾科的良好支持轮廓，与传统的形态分类和最近的分子研究一致。
