Phylogenetic position of Talpa levantis, T. martinorum, and T. transcaucasica based on complete mitogenomes
Biologia, cilt.81, sa.9, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 81 Sayı: 9
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s11756-026-02319-w
- Dergi Adı: Biologia
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Zoological Record, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Anatolia, Mitogenome, Mole, Phylogenetics
- Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The mitochondrial genome sequences of Talpa levantis, Talpa martinorum, and Talpa transcaucasica (Eulipotyphla: Talpidae) are analyzed. The mitogenomes of T. levantis and T. transcaucasica are presented for the first time in this study. The mitogenomes of these Talpa species are circular molecules ranging in length from 16,700 bp to 16,728 bp and consist of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and one control region. Except for eight tRNAs and the ND6 gene, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand (H strand). In the mitogenomes of the three mole species, guanine is the nucleotide with the lowest abundance (A > T > C > G). In all three Talpa mitogenomes, ATG is the most frequent initiation codon for the 13 protein-coding genes. The gene order and orientation of the mitogenomes of T. levantis, T. martinorum, and T. transcaucasica are essentially identical to those of other Talpa species. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using a dataset of 14,896 bp derived from the complete mtDNA sequences. In pairwise comparisons of PCGs, the lowest genetic distance between T. levantis and T. martinorum is 6.5% (ATP8) and the highest is 13.9% (ATP6). The lowest genetic distance between T. levantis and T. transcaucasica is 3.8% (ATP8 gene), and the highest is 11.4% (ND3 gene). The lowest genetic distance between T. martinorum and T. transcaucasica is 6.2% (ATP8), and the highest is 16.1% (ATP6). The overall pairwise distances between the species based on PCGs are 6.9% between T. transcaucasica and T. levantis, 12.1% between T. transcaucasica and T. martinorum, and 11.8% between T. levantis and T. martinorum. Since the rate of molecular evolution among genes differs, the evolutionary patterns and genetic distances they reveal may vary. Compared to single-gene phylogenies, complete mitogenomic data provide higher resolution and greater reliability. Our findings conclusively demonstrate that T. transcaucasica is genetically distinct from T. levantis, strongly supporting its status as a valid, separate species.