Sequence and organisation of the mitochondrial genome of Japanese Grosbeak (), and the phylogenetic relationships of Fringillidae.

Mitochondrial DNA is a useful molecular marker for phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis. In the current study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of , the Japanese Grosbeak, and the phylogenetic relationships of and 16 other species of the family Fringillidae based on the sequences of 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes. The mitochondrial genome of consists of 16,771 base pairs, and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and one control region. Analysis of the base composition revealed an A+T bias, a positive AT skew and a negative GC skew. The mitochondrial gene order and arrangement in was similar to the typical avian mitochondrial gene arrangement. Phylogenetic analysis of 17 species of Fringillidae, based on Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation, showed that the genera and are closely related to the genus , and further showed a sister-group relationship of and .