Dan Zhicuo, Zhang Ying, Chen Zhenning
School of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xi'ning 810008, China.
Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Mar 14;26(6):2609. doi: 10.3390/ijms26062609.
Satyrinae, one of the most species-rich groups within the Nymphalidae family, has traditionally relied on morphological characteristics for classification. However, this approach encounters challenges due to issues such as cryptic species and paraphyletic groups. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed the complex evolutionary history of Satyrinae, leading to the reclassification of the originally polyphyletic Satyrini into multiple independent tribes and confirming the monophyletic status of groups such as Amathusiini. Nevertheless, the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of certain tribes remain contentious. This study focuses on three species of the Amathusiini tribe (, , and ), constructing a phylogenetic tree by sequencing the complete mitochondrial genome and integrating 13 protein-coding genes, including COI and ND5. The results indicate that the mitogenome lengths for the three satyrid species are 15,512 bp for , 13,914 bp for , and 15,288 bp for . The genetic composition and sequencing of the newly obtained mitogenomes exhibit high conservation and are distinctive to this group of butterflies. Each of the three mitogenomes contains a characteristic collection of 37 genes along with an AT-rich region. Notably, the tRNA genes across these mitogenomes display a conventional cloverleaf configuration; however, the tRNA stem (AGN) lacks the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm. The three species exhibit varying lengths of AT-rich regions, resulting in differences in their mitochondrial genome sizes. Finally, the phylogenetic analysis supports the relationships among the four tribes of Satyrinae as: (Satyrini + (Amathusiini + Elymniini)) + Melanitini.
眼蝶亚科是蛱蝶科中物种最为丰富的类群之一，传统上一直依靠形态特征进行分类。然而，由于隐存物种和并系类群等问题，这种方法面临挑战。最近的分子系统发育研究揭示了眼蝶亚科复杂的进化历史，导致原本多系的眼蝶族被重新划分为多个独立的族，并确认了诸如环蝶族等类群的单系地位。尽管如此，某些族的系统发育关系和分歧时间仍存在争议。本研究聚焦于环蝶族的三个物种（、和），通过对完整线粒体基因组进行测序并整合包括细胞色素氧化酶亚基I（COI）和烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸脱氢酶亚基5（ND5）在内的13个蛋白质编码基因，构建了系统发育树。结果表明，这三种眼蝶物种的线粒体基因组长度分别为：的15,512碱基对、的13,914碱基对和的15,288碱基对。新获得的线粒体基因组的遗传组成和测序显示出高度的保守性，并且对于这一类蝴蝶具有独特性。这三个线粒体基因组中的每一个都包含一组特征性的37个基因以及一个富含AT的区域。值得注意的是，这些线粒体基因组中的转运RNA（tRNA）基因呈现出传统的三叶草结构；然而，tRNA茎（AGN）缺少二氢尿嘧啶（DHU）臂。这三个物种的富含AT区域长度各不相同，导致它们的线粒体基因组大小存在差异。最后，系统发育分析支持眼蝶亚科四个族之间的关系为：（眼蝶族 + （环蝶族 + 眉眼蝶族）） + 黛眼蝶族。
