Mealworms are the most common edible insect and feed additives in poultry, livestock, and aquaculture production. In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genome of dark mealworm Tenebrio obscurus (Zunyi population) was sequenced and annotated. The 15,509 bp circular mitogenome contains a conserved set of 37 mitochondrial genes including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and an A + T-rich region. The gene order is identical to the typical insect gene arrangement. Great differences were found in A + T-rich regions between Zunyi population and Guiyang population including large deletion and substitution. Phylogenetic analysis showed that T. obscurus clustered within Tenebrionoidea and was closely related to Tenebrio molitor.
Keywords: Tenebrio obscurus; edible insect; mealworm; mitogenome.
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.