Description of the Three Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Sitta (S. himalayensis, S. nagaensis, and S. yunnanensis) and Phylogenetic Relationship (Aves: Sittidae)

Qingmiao Yuan; Qiang Guo; Jing Cao; Xu Luo; Yubao Duan

doi:10.3390/genes14030589

Description of the Three Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Sitta (S. himalayensis, S. nagaensis, and S. yunnanensis) and Phylogenetic Relationship (Aves: Sittidae)

Genes (Basel). 2023 Feb 26;14(3):589. doi: 10.3390/genes14030589.

Authors

Qingmiao Yuan^{1

2}, Qiang Guo^{1

2}, Jing Cao³, Xu Luo¹, Yubao Duan²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Conserving Wildlife with Small Populations in Yunnan, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
² Department of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
³ Administration of Zixi Mountain Provincial Nature Reserve, Chuxiong 675000, China.

Abstract

Nuthatches (genus Sitta; family Sittidae) are a passerine genus with a predominantly Nearctic and Eurasian distribution. To understand the phylogenetic position of Sitta and phylogenetic relations within this genus, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes of three Sitta species (S. himalayensis, S. nagaensis, and S. yunnanensis), which were 16,822-16,830 bp in length and consisted of 37 genes and a control region. This study recovered the same gene arrangement found in the mitogenomes of Gallus gallus, which is considered the typical ancestral avian gene order. All tRNAs were predicted to form the typical cloverleaf secondary structures. Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of sequences of 18 species obtained a well-supported topology. The family Sittidae is the sister group of Troglodytidae, and the genus Sitta can be divided into three major clades. We demonstrated the phylogenetic relationships within the genus Sitta (S. carolinensis + ((S. villosa + S. yunnanensis) + (S. himalayensis + (S. europaea + S. nagaensis)))).

Keywords: Sitta himalayensis; Sitta nagaensis; Sitta yunnanensis; mitochondrial genome; phylogeny.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Base Sequence
Bayes Theorem
Genome, Mitochondrial* / genetics
Passeriformes* / genetics
Phylogeny

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Project of Yunnan (20210AT070040) and the International Cooperation Fund for Giant Panda ([2017], No. 115).