Precise annotation of Drosophila mitochondrial genomes leads to insights into AT-rich regions

•PolyA/polyT motifs in control regions (CRs) function as signals to initiate mtDNA transcription.•The duplication, recombination or mutation of these polyA/polyT sequences formed the AT-rich regions during evolution.•There is a high probability that several TISs and TTSs exist in invertebrate mt genomes. In the present study, we performed precise annotation of Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, D. grimshawi, Bactrocera oleae mitochondrial (mt) genomes using pan RNA-seq analysis. Using PacBio cDNA-seq data from D. simulans, we precisely annotated the Transcription Initiation Sites (TISs) of the mt Heavy and Light strands in Drosophila mt genomes and reported that the polyA(+) and polyA(-) motifs in the CRs are associated with TISs. The discovery of the conserved polyA(+) and polyA(-) motifs provides insights into many polyA and polyT sequences in CRs of insect mt genomes, leading to reveal the mt transcription and its regulation in invertebrates. Notably, we propose that: (1) polyA/polyT motifs in CRs function as signals to initiate mtDNA transcription; (2) the duplication, recombination or mutation of these polyA/polyT sequences formed the AT-rich regions during evolution; and (3) since CRs of many invertebrate species still contain many polyA/polyT sequences, there is a high probability that several TISs and TTSs exist in invertebrate mt genomes.