New complete mitogenomes of four species in tribe Erythroneurini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae) from China and their phylogenetic analysis

Abstract

Erythroneurine leafhoppers are important insects in agriculture and forestry. The complete mitochondrial genomes of Motaga mengyangensis, Motaga acicularis, Tautoneura albida, and Tautoneura unicolor, which belong to the tribe Erythroneurini from China, were sequenced for the first time. The lengths of the complete mitogenomes of these four species ranged from 15,361 to 15,856 base pairs, and a typical set of 37 genes was identified in each. Among the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), except for the atp8 gene in T. albida and T. unicolor, which started with the codon TTG, the remaining genes all began with typical ATN codons (ATA/ATT/ATC/ATG). The stop codons were TAA, TAG, or an incomplete stop codon T. Utilizing three datasets from the mitochondrial genomes (PCGs, PCGsrRNA, and PCGs12rRNA) of 36 species (including two outgroups), phylogenetic trees of Erythroneurini were constructed via maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. The results revealed that all phylogenetic trees supported the clustering of M. mengyangensis and M. acicularis into one evolutionary branch, as well as the clustering of T. albida and T. unicolor into another. Furthermore, all the results consistently supported the monophyly of genera within Erythroneurini and uniformly demonstrated that the genus Motaga formed a sister group relationship with the genus Empoascanara. Our research fills a crucial gap in the available data on complete mitochondrial genomes within Erythroneurini, laying a solid foundation for future explorations into the molecular aspects of leafhopper evolution and diversity, which further provides reference value for their prevention and control.