The complete mitochondrial genome of Zebrias quagga (Pleuronectiformes: Soleidae).

Zebrias quagga (Soleoidei, Soleidae) is a sort of small and medium-sized commercial flatfish, characterized by both eyes on the right side of the body and with a dark brown short tentacle on each eye. In this paper, the complete mitogenome sequence of Z. quagga was first determined, which is 17,045 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, as well as a control region (CR) and a L-strand replication origin (OL). Gene contents, locations, and orders are identical to those of typical teleostean mtDNA. The nucleotide composition of the whole mitogenome is 28.8%, 29.3%, 15.8%, and 26.1% for A, C, G, and T, respectively, with a slight bias of A+T content (54.9%). This result is expected to contribute to a better understanding the phylogenetic study of Soleidae and Pleuronectiformes.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Paraplagusia blochii (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae).

Paraplagusia blochii (Cynoglossidae, Soleoidei) is characterized by both eyes on the left side of the body with a short rostral hook reaching only to hind margin of lower eye. Here we first report the mitogenome of this tongue sole, which is 16,611 bp in length, and the gene order has been reorganized. Specifically, the tRNA-Gln gene encoded by the light strand (L-strand) has been translocated to the heavy strand (H-strand), accompanied by the tRNA-Ile gene shuffling. In addition, the putative control region has been translocated downstream to a position between the ND1 and tRNA-Gln genes, leaving a 24-bp trace fragment in the original position. Nevertheless, the rest gene arrangement is identical to that of the typical fish. The determination of the complete mitogenome sequence of P. blochii could contribute to a better understanding the molecular mechanisms of gene reorganization in fish mitogenome and phylogenetic study of Soleidae and Pleuronectiformes.

Gene rearrangements in the mitochondrial genome of Cynoglossus bilineatus (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae).

Cynoglossus bilineatus (Cynoglossidae, Soleoidei) is characterized by both eyes on the left side of the body and with a rounded snout and a short rostral hook. Here we first report the mitogenome of this tongue sole, which is 16,454 bp in length, and gene rearrangements have been observed. Particularly, the tRNA-Gln gene encoded by the light strand (L-strand) has translocated to the heavy strand (H-strand), along with the tRNA-Ile gene shuffling. In addition, the putative control region has translocated downstream to a position between the ND1 and tRNA-Gln genes, leaving a 26-bp intergenic spacer in its original position. However, the arrangement of the rest genes is identical to that of the typical teleost. This result could contribute to a better understanding the molecular mechanisms of gene rearrangement in fish mitogenome as well as phylogenetic study of Cynoglossidae and Pleuronectiformes.

Concerted Evolution of Duplicate Control Regions in the Mitochondria of Species of the Flatfish Family Bothidae (Teleostei: Pleuronectiformes).

Mitogenomes of flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes) exhibit the greatest diversity of gene rear-rangements in teleostean fishes. Duplicate control regions (CRs) have been found in the mito-genomes of two flatfishes, Samariscus latus (Samaridae) and Laeops lanceolata (Bothidae), which is rare in teleosts. It has been reported that duplicate CRs have evolved in a concerted fashion in fishes and other animals, however, whether concerted evo-lution exists in flatfishes remains unknown. In this study, based on five newly sequenced and six previously reported mitogenomes of lefteye flounders in the Bothidae, we explored whether duplicate CRs and concerted evolution exist in these species. Results based on the present study and previous reports show that four out of eleven bothid species examined have duplicate CRs of their mitogenomes. The core regions of the duplicate CRs of mitogenomes in the same species have identical, or nearly identical, sequences when compared to each other. This pattern fits the typical characteristics of concerted evolution. Additionally, phylogenetic and ancestral state reconstruction analysis also provided evidence to support the hypothesis that duplicate CRs evolved concertedly. The core region of concerted evolution is situated at the conserved domains of the CR of the mitogenome from the termination associated sequences (TASs) to the conserved sequence blocks (CSBs). Commonly, this region is con-sidered to regulate mitochondrial replication and transcription. Thus, we hypothesize that the cause of concerted evolution of the duplicate CRs in the mtDNAs of these four bothids may be related to some function of the conserved sequences of the CRs during mitochondrial rep-lication and transcription. We hope our results will provide fresh insight into the molecular mechanisms related to replication and evolution of mitogenomes.