Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genomes of Maiestas dorsalis and Japananus hyalinus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and comparison with other Membracoidea.

Only six mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) have been previously published for Cicadellidae, the largest family of Hemiptera. This study provides complete, annotated mitogenomes of two additional cicadellid, species Maiestas dorsalis and Japananus hyalinus, and the first comparative mitogenome analysis across the superfamily Membracoidea. The mitogenomes of both sequenced species are similar to those of other studied hemipteran mitogenomes in organization and the lengths are 15,352 and 15,364 bp with an A + T content of 78.7% and 76.6%, respectively. In M. dorsalis, all sequenced genes are arranged in the putative ancestral insect gene arrangement, while the tRNA cluster trnW-trnC-trnY is rearranged to trnY-trnW-trnC in J. hyalinus, the first reported gene rearrangement in Membracoidea. Phylogenetic analyses of the 11 available membracoid mitogenomes and outgroups representing the other two cicadomorphan superfamilies supported the monophyly of Membracoidea, and indicated that treehoppers are a derived lineage of leafhoppers. ML and BI analyses yielded topologies that were congruent except for relationships among included representatives of subfamily Deltocephalinae. Exclusion of third codon positions of PCGs improved some node support values in ML analyses.