Mitochondrial genome characterization of Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) and its phylogenetic relationship with other lepidopteran insects

• T. solanivora mitogenome shows subtle differences compared to ancient insect.
• T. solanivora shown a close relationship with the pest P. gossypiella.
• T. solanivora taxonomic classification coincides with the inferred phylogeny.
• It was found that Gelechiidae family represents a monophyletic group.

The complete mitogenome of the potato tuber moth Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) was sequenced, annotated, characterized and compared with 140 species of the order Lepidoptera. The circular genome is 15,251 bp, containing 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and an A + T-rich region). The gene arrangement was identical to other lepidopteran mitogenomes but different from the ancestral arrangement found in most insects for the tRNA-Met gene (A + T-region, tRNA-I, tRNA-Q, tRNA-M). The mitogenome of T. solanivora is highly A + T-biased (78.2%) and exhibits negative AT- and GC-skews. All PCGs are initiated by canonical ATN start codons, except for Cytochrome Oxidase subunit 1 (COI), which is initiated by CGA. Most PCGs have a complete typical stop codon (TAA). Only NAD1 has a TAG stop codon and the COII and NAD5 genes have an incomplete stop codon consisting of just a T. The A + T-rich region is 332 bp long and contains common features found in lepidopteran mitogenomes, including the ‘ATAGA’ motif, a 17 bp poly (T) stretch and a (AT)8 element preceded by the ‘ATTTA’ motif. Other tandem repeats like (TAA)4 and (TAT)7 were found, as well as (T)6 and (A)10 mononucleotide repeat elements. Finally, this mitogenome has 20 intergenic spacer regions. The phylogenetic relationship of T. solanivora with 28 other lepidopteran families (12 superfamilies) showed that taxonomic classification by morphological features coincides with the inferred phylogeny. Thus, the Gelechiidae family represents a monophyletic group, suggesting that T. solanivora and Pectinophora gossypiella have a recent common ancestor.