The Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequences Of Neofelis Nebulosa And Phylogenetic Relationships Among 13 Species Of Felidae From China

The complete nucleotide sequence (16,844bp) of the mitochondrial genome of Neofelis nebulosa was determined by PCR method. 13 protein, 22 tRNA, 2 rRNA genes, 1 OLR and 1 control region were contained in this genome which were similar with the mitochondrial genome of Felis catus,Acinonyx jubatus except the control region. 2 251 base sites had mutated in 11,342bp protein–coding region, taking up 19.8% of the total sites; 256 amino acids mutated of the 3,792 amino acids in protein–coding region, taking up 6.75% of the total. It was indicated that base substitution leaned to synonymy substitution. Futhermore, AT preference was evidence for the secondary sites of codons and higher mutation in the third sites. All the tRNA genes could fold into typical cloverleaf-shaped structure except tRNA^{–Ser (AGY)} which missed the"DHU"arm. There was no RS2 repeats unit in the control region, which indicated that repeat units had unimportant biological function in the mitochondrial genome. There were 4 bases mutated in the CSB–3 of this region exceeding other known Felidae by a long way. Compared with other genens, AT content in the control region was lower. The phylogenetic study was performed based on the complete mtDNAs from 13 carnivores which represented seven families and the results revealed that the phylogenetic relationships among these carnivores were similar with those reported before.To study the phylogenetic relationships among Felidae of China, partial 12S rRNA gene sequence (about 371 bp) and Cytochrome b (about 355 bp) gene sequences from 13 Felidae species from China were analyzed. Molecular phylogenetic trees were reconstructed using Maximum Parsimony (MP) method and Maximum Likelihood (ML) method. According to the results, 113 nucleotide sites substituted in Cyt b gene (31.8% of the total nucleotide sites in Cyt b gene) and 44 nucleotide sites substituted in 12S rRNA gene (11.9% of the total nucleotide sites in 12S rRNA gene) are obtained. On the other hand, the results revealed that Lynx lynx perhaps is basal to other Felidae species from China and supported the opinion that Lynx lynx belongs to Lynx genus. As to Felis libyca, Felis chaus, Felis bieti and Otocolobus manul, the results suggested the...