The complete mitochondrial genome of Chinese zokor (Eospalax fontanierii)

AbstractThe Chinese zokor, Eospalax fontanierii, is a group of common subterranean solitary rodents and endemic in China. The complete mitogenome sequence of E. fontanierii was determined based on next-generation sequencing in this study. The genome was 16,369 bp long, containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and one non-coding control region (D-loop). The overall base composition of the heavy strand is A (33.80%), C (23.85%), T (30.23%), and G (12.11%). The base compositions present highly biased toward A + T nucleotides. The result of phylogenetic analysis showed the four Eospalax species formed a monophyly with the high bootstrap value, and as a sister group of the genus Myospalax. This is the first report of the complete mitochondrial genomes of E. fontanierii, and the mitogenome is potentially important for evolutionary biology, population genetics, and species diagnosis studies of the Mysopalacinae.