Abstract:
Echeneoidea comprises three families of tropical/subtropical marine fishes: Echeneidae (remora), Coryphaenidae (dolphinfish), and Rachycentridae (cobia). Herein the complete mitochondrial genomes of Echeneis naucrates (16,611 bp), Coryphaena hippurus (16,637 bp) and Rachycentron canadum (18,008 bp) are published in the NCBI database (accession numbers KF021242, KF814117, and KC782765, respectively). Each mitochondrial genome contains 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and 1 control region (D-loop) with a typical arrangement of teleost mitochondrial genomes. The E. naucrates control region shows termination-associated sequences (TASs), conserved sequence blocks (CSBs) and two copies of a tandem repeat, whereas the C. hippurus and the R. canadum control regions show numerous copies of short tandem repeats with a few TASs. The low copy number of tandem repeats in the E. naucrates control region may be a result of a selective advantage of smaller genomes. A purifying selection acts on all 13 protein-coding genes of Echeneoidea mitochondrial genomes, but the lineage leading to C. hippurus + R. canadum shows elevated ω (dN/dS) ratios, especially in ND3 and ND4L. However, the branch-site model analyses indicated that the accumulated nonsynnonymous changes observed are not a result of positive selections, but rather due to relaxed functional constraints.
WALAILAK UNIVERSITY. CENTER FOR LIBRARY RESOURCES AND EDUCATIONAL MEDIA