Comparative Analysis of Mitochondrial Genomes among Twelve Sibling Species of the Genus Atkinsoniella Distant, 1908 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae) and Phylogenetic Analysis

Abstract

The herbivorous leafhopper genus Atkinsoniella Distant, 1908 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae), a large genus of subfamily Cicadellinae, consists of 98 valid species worldwide and 88 species recorded in China. Some species of the genus are very similar in morphological characteristics, so they are difficult to identify accurately. In this study, 12 mitochondrial genomes of Atkinsoniella species with similar morphological characteristics were first obtained through high-throughput sequencing, which featured a typical circular molecule of 15,034–15,988 bp in length. The arrangement and orientation of 37 genes were identical to those of typical Cicadellidae mitogenomes. The phylogenetic relationship within the subfamily Cicadellinae was reconstructed using maximum-likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods based on three concatenated datasets. The topological structures of the six obtained phylogenetic trees were highly consistent. The results suggested that Atkinsoniella was recovered as a monophyletic group and emerged as a sister group with the monophyletic clade of Bothrogonia, Paracrocampsa (part), and Draeculacephala (part). The branches of the 12 newly sequenced species were clearly separated, with most nodes receiving strong support in all analyses. In addition, the key to the 12 Atkinsoniella species was provided to identify species according to morphological characteristics. This study further promotes research on the classification, genetics, evolution, and phylogeny of the genus Atkinsoniella and subfamily Cicadellinae.

Description and complete mitochondrial genome of Atkinsoniella zizhongi sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae) from China and its phylogenetic implications

“…In contrast, ATP8 was under the weakest purifying pressure and exhibited the highest Ka/Ks value of 0.716. These results are consistent with previous studies of Cicadellinae ( Jiang et al, 2022 ) and other leafhopper subfamilies ( Huang & Zhang, 2020 ; Tang, Huang & Zhang, 2020 ; Xu, Yu & Zhang, 2020 ; Lin, Huang & Zhang, 2021 ; Yu & Zhang, 2021 ), indicating that ATP8 may be an ideal barcode gene for species delimitation of Cicadellidae.…”

“…uniguttata , and A . xanthoabdomena were discrepant across analyses in a previous study ( Jiang et al, 2022 ), which may be related to the addition of new taxa ( Havird & Miyamoto, 2010 ). Additionally, the 16 Atkinsoniella species (all mitogenomes of Atkinsoniella that have been released on GenBank) were separated into two branches (Clade A and Clade B in Figs.…”

“…5 , S4 – S8 ). Clade A consisted of 12 yellow-winged Atkinsoniella species, and Clade B consisted of four nonyellow-winged species, which was identical to the study of Jiang et al (2022) . Moreover, A .…”

“…And there are few studies on the mitogenomic phylogeny within Cicadellinae. Only Jiang et al (2022) conducted the intergeneric and interspecific relationships within Cicadellinae based on all the available Cicadellinae mitogenomes. The others mainly focus on the relationships among the subfamilies of Cicadellidae, with few Cicadellinae sequences were cited.…”

Comparative Mitogenomics of Flesh Flies: Implications for Phylogeny

“…Due to its small size, large number of copies, conserved genome components, fast evolutionary rate, and uncommon recombination, the mitochondrial genome has become a formidable tool in phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of various insect groups [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. In comparative studies, mitogenome features such as compositional bias and substitutional rate variation provide essential information for the reconstruction of phylogeny as a basis for tracking evolution among insects [ 24 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Despite the fast accumulation of sequenced mitogenomes generated by high-throughput sequencing [ 33 ], our understanding of mitogenomic evolution in insects remains fragmentary.…”