Phylogenetic studies of Anas clypeata (Anatidae: Anas) based on complete mitochondrial DNA sequences.

Northern shoveler (Anas clypeata) is a middle-sized duck living in an extremely geographical range in northern hemisphere. Here, the complete mitochondrial genome of A. clypeata (16 599 bp in length) has been analyzed for building the database. Similar to the typical mtDNA of vertebrates, it contained 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes) and a non-coding region (D-loop). Overall base composition of the complete mitochondrial DNA is A (29.4%), G (15.7%), C (32.5%) and T (22.4%), the percentage of A and T (51.8%) is slightly higher than G and C (48.2%). All the genes in A. clypeata were distributed on the H-strand, except for the ND6 subunit gene and 9 tRNA genes which were encoded on the L-strand. The phylogenetic relationships of 12 Anatidae species were reconstructed based on the complete mtDNA sequences using the Bayesian inference method.