Chen Simin, Huang Huiling, Shan Siqi, Li Chengmin, Huang Kaiyuan, Xu Xinyi, Jiang Lichun
Key Laboratory for Molecular Biology and Biopharmaceutics, School of Life Science and Technology, Mianyang Teachers' College, Mianyang 621000, China.
Biology (Basel). 2025 Sep 20;14(9):1299. doi: 10.3390/biology14091299.
White-lipped tree frogs, , are currently included in the list of terrestrial wildlife with important ecological, scientific, and social value in China. Understanding the structure and characteristics of the mitochondrial genome provides essential information for resource conservation and phylogenetic analyses of . While the complete mitochondrial genomes serve as important molecular markers for phylogenetic and genetic studies, the mitochondrial genome of has received little attention. In this paper, we analyzed the characterization of the mitochondrial genome of and investigated the phylogenetic relationships of Rhacophoridae. The complete mitochondrial genome of was 20,254 bp in length, containing thirty-six genes (twelve protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), twenty-two transfer RNA genes (tRNAs)), three non-coding regions for the origin of light strand (), and two control regions (). There were six overlapping regions and seventeen intergenic spacer regions in the mitogenome. The mitogenome also showed a bias towards A + T content (61.87%) and had negative AT-skew (-0.039) and GC-skew (-0.209). All the PCGs employed the ATG, ATA, or ATT as the start codon and TAA, TAG, AGG, or single T as the stop codon. Additionally, all of the tRNAs displayed a typical cloverleaf secondary structure, except trnS1, which lacked the D arm. The phylogenetic analysis, based on the maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods, revealed that Rhacophoridae could be classified into four monophyletic genera. The phylogenetic status of was closely related to that of and . Additionally, selective pressure analysis suggested that and were highly efficient for discriminating closely related species in the genus , while was the most appropriate marker for population-level genetic analyses. The diversification of the commenced during the Late Oligocene and extended into the Miocene. The present study provides valuable genomic information on and new insights into the phylogenetic relationships of Rhacophoridae.
白唇树蛙目前被列入中国具有重要生态、科学和社会价值的陆生野生动物名录。了解线粒体基因组的结构和特征为白唇树蛙的资源保护和系统发育分析提供了重要信息。虽然完整的线粒体基因组是系统发育和遗传研究的重要分子标记，但白唇树蛙的线粒体基因组却很少受到关注。在本文中，我们分析了白唇树蛙线粒体基因组的特征，并研究了树蛙科的系统发育关系。白唇树蛙的完整线粒体基因组长度为20,254 bp，包含36个基因（12个蛋白质编码基因（PCGs）、2个核糖体RNA基因（rRNAs）、22个转移RNA基因（tRNAs））、3个轻链复制起始非编码区（OL）和2个控制区（CR）。线粒体基因组中有6个重叠区和17个基因间隔区。该线粒体基因组还表现出对A+T含量的偏好（61.87%），并且具有负的AT偏斜（-0.039）和GC偏斜（-0.209）。所有PCGs均以ATG、ATA或ATT作为起始密码子，以TAA、TAG、AGG或单个T作为终止密码子。此外，除了缺少D臂的trnS1外，所有tRNAs均呈现典型的三叶草二级结构。基于最大似然（ML）和贝叶斯推断（BI）方法的系统发育分析表明，树蛙科可分为四个单系属。白唇树蛙的系统发育地位与锯腿树蛙和斑腿树蛙密切相关。此外，选择压力分析表明，COI和16S rRNA对于区分泛树蛙属中的近缘物种非常有效，而Cytb是群体水平遗传分析的最合适标记。泛树蛙属的多样化始于晚渐新世，并延续至中新世。本研究提供了关于白唇树蛙的宝贵基因组信息，并为树蛙科的系统发育关系提供了新的见解。
