Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of : exploring the mitochondrial evolution and phylogeny of owls (Strigiformes).

Large-scale molecular phylogenetic studies of the avian order Strigiformes have been performed, and numerous mitochondrial genomes have been determined. However, their intergeneric relationships are still controversial, and few comprehensive comparative analyses of mitochondrial genomes have been conducted on Strigiformes. In this study, the mitochondrial genome of was determined and compared with other Strigiformes. The mitochondrial genome was 16,951 bp in size. For Strigiformes, can be used as a suitable molecular marker for population genetic diversity, while is a candidate barcoding marker for species identification. All protein-coding genes may be under strong purifying selection pressure, and one extra cytosine insertion located in is common to all owls except , , and . Four different mitochondrial gene arrangement types were found among the Strigiformes mitogenomes, and their evolutionary relationship between each other can be perfectly explained by the tandem duplication and random loss model. The phylogenetic topologies using the mitochondrial genomes showed that target species had a closer relationship with than , the genus was paraphyletic, and the clade was located at the basal position of Strigidae lineage. Our phylogenetic trees also supported the previous recommendations that , , and should be transferred to , , and , respectively. These findings will be helpful in further unraveling the mitochondrial evolution and phylogeny of Strigiformes.