The complete mitochondrial genomes of Pseudosiderastrea spp (Cnidaria, Scleractinia, Siderastreidae)

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genomes of the Indo-Pacific scleractinians, Pseudosiderastrea formosa and P. tayamai, were sequenced. The mitochondrial genomes are 19,475 bp in length for both P. formosa and P. tayamai, representing the longest mitochondrial genome in the complex corals sequenced to date. The overall GC composition (36.3%) and the gene arrangement are similar to those of the other scleractinian corals, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes (rnl and rns) and 2 tRNA genes (tRNA-Met and tRNA-Trp). All genes, except tRNA-Trp, tRNA-Met, rnl, cox1, and atp8, are engulfed by a large group I intron in the nad5 gene. The second group I intron (970 bp) encoding a putative homing endonuclease is inserted in the cox1 gene, where insertion site is different from those of robust corals. Genes were separated by intergenic spacer regions for a total of 2593 bp, of which the cytb-nad2 region may correspond to the putative control region.

Keywords: Group I intron; Pseudosiderastrea; mitochondrial genome.