Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2024, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (3): 22-30.doi: 10.11978/2022267cstr: 32234.14.2022267

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Complete mitochondrial genome of Cladopsammia gracilis and Rhizopsammia wettsteini (Scleractinia, Dendrophylliidae) and its phylogenetic implications*

HUO Jiaxin1,2,3,4(), LI Yingxin1,2,3,4, SONG Yan1,2,3,4, ZHU Qing1,2,3,4, ZHOU Weihua1,2,3(), YUAN Xiangcheng1,2,3(), HUANG Hui1,2,3, LIU Sheng1,2,3   

  1. 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    2. CAS-HKUST Sanya Joint Laboratory of Marine Science Research, Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya 572000, China
    3. Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, Tropical Marine Biological Research Station in Hainan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2022-12-30 Revised:2023-03-14 Online:2024-05-10 Published:2023-03-21
  • Supported by:
    Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(2022A1515010656); Key Research and Development Project of Hainan Province(ZDYF2020200); National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFF0502800)

Abstract:

There is a taxonomic uncertainty on the species classification of Cladopsammia gracilis and Rhizopsammia wettsteini as well as the unresolved status of the closely related genera Cladopsammia and Rhizopsammia. In order to further analyze the phylogenetic relationship between C. gracilis and R. wettsteini, we examined the micromorphological and microstructural features and systematically compared the gene structure, genetic distance and codon preference of two mitochondrial genomes. The results show that there are three distinct characteristics: reptoid budding, costae and septa. The genome composition of the two species is very similar, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes and 2 tRNA genes. Unlike most scleractinians, there were no overlaps between genes. In addition, phylogenetic analysis based on CO1 genes show that C. gracilis and R. wettsteini are closely related but distantly related to other species of the genera Cladopsammia. The present study highlights the need for an integrative approach to conduct a deeper species delimitation of genera Cladopsammia and Rhizopsammia.

Key words: Dendrophylliidae, mitochondrial genomes, taxonomy, phylogenetic analysis