Phylomitogenomics of Malacostraca (Arthropoda: Crustacea)

Along with the sequencing technology development and continual enthusiasm of researchers on the mitochondrial genomes, the number of metazoan mitochondrial genomes reported has a tremendous growth in the past decades. Phylomitogenomics-reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships based on mitochondrial genomic data-is now possible across large animal groups. Crustaceans in the class Malacostraca display a high diversity of body forms and include large number of ecologically and commercially important species. In this study, comprehensive and systematic analyses of the phylogenetic relationships within Malacostraca were conducted based on 86 mitochondrial genomes available from GenBank. Among 86 malacostracan mitochondrial genomes, 54 species have identical major gene arrangement (excluding tRNAs) to pancrustacean ground pattern, including six species from Stomatopoda, three species from Amphipoda, two krill, seven species from Dendrobranchiata (Decapoda), and 36 species from Pleocyemata (Decapoda). However, the other 32 mitochondrial genomes reported exhibit major gene rearrangements. Phylogenies based on Bayesian analyses of nucleotide sequences of the protein-coding genes produced a robust tree with 100% posterior probability at almost all nodes. The results indicate that Amphipoda and Isopoda cluster together (Edriophthalma) (BPP=100). Phylomitogenomic analyses strong support that Euphausiacea is nested within Decapoda, and closely related to Dendrobranchiata, which is also consistent with the evidence from developmental biology. Yet the taxonomic sampling of mitochondrial genome from Malacostraca is very biased to the order Decapoda, with no complete mitochondrial genomes reported from 11 of the 16 orders. Future researches on sequencing the mitochondrial genomes from a wide variety of malacostracans are necessary to further elucidate the phylogeny of this important group of animals. With the increase in mitochondrial genomes available, phylomitogenomics will emerge as an important component in the Tree of Life researches.