Sequencing and analyses of the mitochondrial genome of Ahmaditermes guizhouensis (Blattodea: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae)

The genus Ahmaditermes belongs to the subfamily Nasutitermitinae of Termitidae. Although this group is relatively species-diverse and widely distributed, the research on its mitochondrial genomes remains limited. To enhance the understanding of the mitochondrial genome characteristics and to explore the phylogenetic position of Ahmaditermes in the Nasutitermitinae, the complete mitochondrial genome of Ahmaditermes guizhouensis was newly sequenced and analyzed in this study, and in addition, the phylogenetic trees were constructed based on the 37 coding genes of mitochondrial genomes from 143 termite species, using Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. The main results were listed as follows: (1) The mitochondrial genome of A. guizhouensis was 15 836 bp in length, with nucleotide composition showed an AT bias (A+T = 68.8%); except for nad2 which used GTG as the start codon, all other protein-coding genes used the typical start codons and stop codons; the repeated element in the control region of the mitochondrial genome was Bp-B type. (2) Comparative analysis of the mitochondrial genomes within Ahmaditermes revealed that their basic genomic features are highly similar; among the 13 protein-coding genes, nad5 exhibited the fastest evolutionary rate, while cox1 and cox2 were relatively conserved; the cox2 genetic distance calculated using P-distance between A. guizhouensis and A. laticephalus were zero, indicating that these two species could be synonyms. (3) Within Nasutitermitinae, the genera Kaudernitermes, Nasutitermes, Coarctotermes, Aciculitermes, Subulitermes and Tumulitermes were all non-monophyletic groups. Ahmaditermes clustered with Nasutitermes tiantongensis as the sister group.