Complete mitochondrial genome of the sooty mangabey, Cercocebus atys atys (Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae).

The sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys atys) is an Old World monkey belonging to family Cercopithecidae. It has recently been widely used as an important animal model for researches related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. In this study, the mitochondrial genome sequence of this species is determined and described for the first time. It is 16,536 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 1 putative control region (CR). The genome organization, nucleotide composition and codon usage are similar to those reported from other monkey mitochondrial genomes. The descending order of the base composition on heavy strand is 32.5% A, 29.5% C, 25.8% T, and 12.2% G, with a relatively lower level of G and a slightly A+T bias of 58.3%. All genes are distributed on the H-strand except for the ND6 subunit gene and seven tRNA genes, which are encoded on the L-strand. This mitochondrial genome data are potentially important for the study of molecular evolution, conservation genetics and disease infection in C. a. atys.