Comparison of the complete mitochondrial genome of the stonefly Sweltsa longistyla (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae) with mitogenomes of three other stoneflies

• S. longistyla mitogenome was the first sequenced complete mtDNA of the family Chloroperlidae.
• The control region of S. longistyla had three stem-loops and two tantem repeats.
• We compared S. longistyla mitogenome with three other stonefly species.
• Four CSBs were present in the control region of four stoneflies.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the stonefly, Sweltsa longistyla Wu (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae), was sequenced in this study. The mitogenome of S. longistyla is 16,151 bp and contains 37 genes including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and a large non-coding region. S. longistyla, Pteronarcys princeps Banks, Kamimuria wangi Du and Cryptoperla stilifera Sivec belong to the Plecoptera, and the gene order and orientation of their mitogenomes were similar. The overall AT content for the four stoneflies was below 72%, and the AT content of tRNA genes was above 69%. The four genomes were compact and contained only 65–127 bp of non-coding intergenic DNAs. Overlapping nucleotides existed in all four genomes and ranged from 24 (P. princeps) to 178 bp (K. wangi). There was a 7-bp motif (‘ATGATAA’) of overlapping DNA and an 8-bp motif (AAGCCTTA) conserved in three stonefly species (P. princeps, K. wangi and C. stilifera). The control regions of four stoneflies contained a stem-loop structure. Four conserved sequence blocks (CSBs) were present in the A + T-rich regions of all four stoneflies.