The first mitochondrial genome for the fishfly subfamily Chauliodinae and implications for the higher phylogeny of Megaloptera

PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e47302. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047302. Epub 2012 Oct 9.

Abstract

Megaloptera are a basal holometabolous insect order with larvae exclusively predacious and aquatic. The evolutionary history of Megaloptera attracts great interest because of its antiquity and important systematic status in Holometabola. However, due to the difficulties identifying morphological apomorphies for the group, controversial hypotheses on the monophyly and higher phylogeny of Megaloptera have been proposed. Herein, we describe the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of a fishfly species, Neochauliodes punctatolosus Liu & Yang, 2006, representing the first mt genome of the subfamily Chauliodinae. A phylogenomic analysis was carried out based on the mt genomic sequences of 13 mt protein-coding genes (PCGs) and two rRNA genes of nine Neuropterida species, comprising all three orders of Neuropterida and all families and subfamilies of Megaloptera. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses highly support the monophyly of Megaloptera, which was recovered as the sister of Neuroptera. Within Megaloptera, the sister relationship between Corydalinae and Chauliodinae was corroborated. The divergence time estimation suggests that stem lineage of Neuropterida and Coleoptera separated in the Early Permian. The interordinal divergence within Neuropterida might have occurred in the Late Permian.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Genome, Mitochondrial / genetics*
  • Insecta / classification
  • Insecta / genetics*
  • Phylogeny

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest of PR China (Nos. 200903021, 201003079), the National Natural Science Foundation of PR China (Nos. 41271063, 31000973), and the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of PR China (No. 201178). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.