The first complete mitochondrial genome of the Maylandia zebra

Maylandia zebra, a member of the family cichlid living in individual African lakes, are regarded as a significant evolution model. Recently the genome sequencing had been done, but there is no sufficient information about its mitochondria. Herein, we first assembled the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Maylandia zebra. It is a 16582 bp long sequence with most mitogenome's characteristic structure, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 putative control region. The GC-content of our fresh sequence is 45.86%, similar to closely related species Oreochromis niloticus. The accuracy and utility of new determined mitogenome sequences can be verified by the phylogenetic analysis, based on whole mitogenome alignment with Neolamprologus brichardi, Pseudotropheus crabro, Oreochromis niloticu, which is closest relative to Maylandia zebra, and 6 others. Using the full mitogenome, we expect to address taxonomic issues and study the related evolution events. Moreover, this is the first report of the mitogenome of genus Maylandia.