The phylogenetic structure of the genus Niviventer has been studied based on several individual mitochondrial and nuclear genes, but the results seem to be inconsistent. In order to clarify the phylogeny of Niviventer, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of white-bellied rat (Niviventer andersoni of the family Muridae) by next-generation sequencing. The 16,291 bp mitochondrial genome consists of 22 transfer RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, and one noncoding control region (D-Loop). Phylogenetic analyses of the nucleotide sequences of all 13 PCGs, PCGs minus ND6, and the entire mitogenome sequence except for the D-loop revealed well-resolved topologies supporting that N. andersoni was clustered with N. excelsior forming a sister division with N. confucianus, which statistically rejected the hypothesis based on the tree of cytochrome b (cytb) gene that N. confucianus is sister to N. fulvescens. Our research provides the first annotated complete mitochondrial genome of N. andersoni, extending the understanding about taxonomy and mitogenomic evolution of the genus Niviventer.
Keywords: Niviventer andersoni; mitochondrial genome; phylogenetic analysis; taxonomy.
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