The pumpkin fruit fly, Bactrocera tau, is an important quarantine pest in many countries because of its mass destructiveness to a variety of vegetable and fruit plants. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of B. tau. Its complete mitogenome sequence is 15,687 bp in length, which contains a non-coding control region and all of the 37 genes of bilaterian animals (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes and 2 rRNA genes). A phylogenetic tree of the complete mitogenome of all available Tephritidae species was established to approve the accuracy. The base composition of mitogenome sequence and the gene arrangement including directions are rather conservative, compared to other published mitogenomes of Bactrocera species. This first complete mitogenome of B. tau will facilitate the development of new DNA markers for species diagnosis, therefore improving accurate detection of quarantine species.
Keywords: Bactrocera tau; biosecurity; mitogenome; quarantine pest.