Mitogenomics Provide New Phylogenetic Insights of the Family Apataniidae (Trichoptera: Integripalpia)

Abstract

The family Apataniidae consists of two subfamilies, Apataniinae and Moropsychinae. Currently, there are 204 valid species of Apataniidae, which are widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. The larvae typically inhabit cold-water environments, and they serve as biological indicators for monitoring the health of freshwater ecosystems. The phylogenetic relationships within Apataniidae are not fully understood. Moreover, the available molecular data of Apataniidae are still limited. Herein, we provided the mitochondrial genomes of eight apataniid species and compared them with the published mitochondrial genomes of Apataniidae. The nine newly obtained sequences ranged from 15,070 bp to 16,737 bp in length. The results of the nonsynonymous with synonymous substitution rates displayed that ATP8 had the highest evolutionary rate, while COXI exhibited the lowest. The ND4L may be an effective molecular marker for the classification of the Apataniidae. Based on the published mitogenomes, we constructed a phylogenetic tree for Limnephiloidea and conducted a preliminary analysis of its advanced phylogeny. The ML and BI analyses recover the monophyly of Apataniidae and Limnephilidae. Except for PCG, BI tree based on other matrices consistently showed the topology: (Apataniana + (Moropsyche + (Apatidelia + Apatania))). The taxonomic status of Apatania and Apatidelia were also preliminarily explored. The mitochondrial genome of Apataniidae provides critical genomic resources for understanding the phylogenetic relationships of Apataniidae.