The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Gekko Gecko (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) And Support For The Monophyly Of Sauria Including Amphisbaenia And Mitochondrial Genome Of Enhydris Plumbea

This thesis includes three chapters:Chapter 1: Recent progress on squamate mitochondrial genome was reviewed.Chapter 2: The mitochondrial genome of Enhydris plumbea was reported for the first time. Mitochondrial DNA extraction, long-PCR amplification and primer-walking sequencing methods were carried out for determining the complete sequence of Enhydris plumbea.(1) The complete mitochondrial genome of Enhydris plumbea is 17397bp in size. Its components, gene order, gene orientation, low percentage of guanine and high percentage of thymine as well as skew of base GC and AT are identical with other vertebrates, but its content of base GC is more similar with serpents.(2) Base A was preferred at third codon position for protein genes.(3) There are only 2 standard stop codes (TAA) for protein genes, less than those of most serpents.Chapter 3: Relationships among squamata families have been difficult to establish, with morphological characters being interpreted to give many different topologies. The mitochondrial gene components and gene arrangement of tokay (Gekko gecko) are typical for vertebrates. Comparisons between Gekko and the other 13 squamates indicate that the mt genome of Gekko have some primitive aspects. Here we combined the Gekko's complete mitochondrial DNA sequence data with those already published to assess relationships among 13 squamate families. Phylogenetic analyses...