Pyropia yezoensis Ueda, belonging to the Bangiales order Rhodophyte, is economically important seaweed distributed along the coastal region of the northwest Pacific. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial DNA sequences of P. yezoensis. The entire genome comprised 41,688 bp with circular organization, which is the longest among the red algae sequenced to date. The overall AT composition is 62.22% and the average AT content of PCG, 16S rRNA, tRNA and noncoding region are 67.51%, 65.23%, 61.23% and 72.67%, respectively The mitochondrial DNA of P. yezoensis encoded 23 proteins, 4 open reading frames, 3 ribosomal RNAs and 27 transfer RNA genes. The comparison analyses showed that obvious variation occurred on the gene content and gene structure among P. yezoensis. P. haitanensis and Porphyra purpurea. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that P. yezoensis is more closely related to P. haitanensis than to P. purpurea, and P. purpurea was phylogenetically distinct from the two species, which confirmed the reassignment of Pyropia and Porphyra in Bangiaceae.
Keywords: Genomic variation; Pyropia yezoensis; mitochondrial DNA; phylogenetic analysis; red algae.