The complete mitochondrial genome of the Australian ghost bat Macroderma gigas

Jaco D Zandberg; Wayne G Reeve; Peter B S Spencer

doi:10.1080/23802359.2021.1962754

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Australian ghost bat Macroderma gigas

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2021 Aug 13;6(9):2630-2631. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2021.1962754. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jaco D Zandberg¹, Wayne G Reeve¹, Peter B S Spencer²

Affiliations

¹ Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.
² Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.

Abstract

The Ghost bat Macroderma gigas is a monotypic bat species that is endemic to northern Australia and named on the basis of the large size of its partially conjoined ears. It is the only carnivorous bat found in Australia and its conservation status is currently listed as Vulnerable. Here, we describe the complete mitochondrial genome of M. gigas and compare it to other vertebrates. The M. gigas circularized mitogenome was 16,661 bp and contained 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNAs and a control region (D-loop) of 1228 bp. Phylogenetic analysis of available entire mitogenomes reveals that Macroderma gigas is most closely related to the Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra in the family Megadermatidae (false vampire bats).

Keywords: Chordata; Megadermatidae; chiroptera; ghost bat; mitogenome.

Grants and funding

This sequencing work was supported with funding from Roy Hill, and Murdoch University.