Mitogenomics providing new insights into the phylogenetic structure of subfamily Panchaetothripinae (Thripidae: Terebrantia)

Complete mitochondrial genome of two species of subfamily Panchaetothripinae, Astrothrips tumiceps (16,467 bp) and Monilothrips kempi (14,773 bp) are generated by Next-Generation Sequencing Method. In this study, the detailed annotation of these mitogenomes as well as comparative analyses are carried out to explore the codon usage, gene composition, and phylogenetic relationship of subfamilies of family Thripidae. Moreover, the gene rearrangement of subfamily Panchaetothripinae of family Thripidae is also studied. Both the mitogenomes featured by 37 genes including 13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs and with single putative control region with a positive AT-skew and negative GC-skew. trnS1 without DHU arm in both species, trnV without DHU arm in M . kempi , and trnE without TΨC loop in As . tumiceps . Further, codon based comparative analysis depicted the existence of natural selection pressure on all the PCGs in all the subfamilies of family Thripidae. The phylogenetic analyses, using the Bayesian inference (BI) and Maximum likelihood (ML) supported the monophyly of two suborders and family Phlaeothripidae. The family Thripidae is recovered as paraphyletic and subfamily Panchaetothripinae is in sister relationship with family Aeolothripidae and Stenurothripidae rather than the other subfamilies of family Thripidae. The gene order of the order Thysanoptera is highly rearranged, while few members of the subfamily Panchaetothripinae showed similar gene order to family Stenurothripidae. Therefore, this study suggests that the phylogenetic relationship between the subfamily Panchaetothripinae and other families is uncertain, necessitating a whole genome-based study to clarify the position of Panchaetothripinae within the suborder Terebrantia.