| Abstract: | We describe the complete mitochondrial genome of a small-scaled forest agamid(Pseudocalotes microlepis), which is 17 873 bp in size, containing 13 PCGs, 2 r RNAs, 22 t RNAs and non-coding regions. The mitogenome has a typical gene order among squamates. 13 PCGs include 2 start codons(ATG and ATA), 3 stop codons(TAG, TAA and AGG), and an incomplete stop codon(T-). Codon usage analyses showed that CUA-Leu1 and CGG-Arg are the most frequently and rarely used codon, respectively. All 22 t RNAs were predicted to form canonical cloverleaf secondary structures, except for two t RNAs(t RNACys and t RNASer(AGY)) lacking the dihydorouridine(DHU) arm. The large noncoding region(control region) is 2 687 bp long(28.3% T, 18.2% C, 42.3% A, and 11.2% G), with four different types of repeating sequences. The phylogenetic tree resulting from BEAST analyses based on concatenated 2 r RNAs and 13 PCGs in sequence revealed that the newly sequenced P. microlepis, where the genus Acanthosaura were aggregated. Together with Calotes versicolor, they constitute the subfamily Draconinae. |
