Cao Yingying, Zhai Shanshan, Li Zhuxin, Huang Zhengtuan, Liang Liang, Tao Junyu, Xiao Jian, Leng Jing, Tang Haibo
Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China.
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine for Treating High-Incidence Infectious Diseases with Integrative Medicine, Nanning, China.
Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2023 Mar 13;8(3):402-404. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2023.2186723. eCollection 2023.
The tree shrew () is currently placed in the order Scandentia. Owing to their unique characteristics, such as small body size, high brain-to-body mass ratio, short reproductive cycle and life span, and low maintenance costs in laboratory conditions, tree shrews have been proposed as alternative experimental animals to primates in biomedical research. In this study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of the subspecies (). The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is 16,777 bp long and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (12S and 16S), and 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. The base composition of the mitogenome was A (32.28%), T (26.82%), G (14.79%), and C (26.11%). For the 13 PCGs, 1405 variable sites were found between and (JN800724), of which 916 were synonymous and 489 were nonsynonymous. The frequency of mutations significantly varied among the different genes, with the highest value in the gene of tree shrews. Phylogenetic analysis based on the amino acid sequences of 13 PCGs revealed a closer relationship between the species of Scandentia and Lagomorpha. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of .
