Complete mitochondrial genomes of Triodontophorus serratus and Triodontophorus nipponicus, and their comparison with Triodontophorus brevicauda.

Triodontophorus serratus and Triodontophorus nipponicus are two of the most common nematodes inhabiting in the large intestine of horse. In the present study, the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences of T. serratus and T. nipponicus have been determined. The mt genomes of T. serratus and T. nipponicus are circular molecules with 13,794 bp and 13,701 bp in size, respectively. These circular mt genomes encode 36 genes, including 12 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes. All of these genes are transcribed in the same direction and gene arrangements are consistent with that of gene arrangement 3 (GA3-type). T. serratus and T. nipponicus had two non-coding regions, but T. brevicauda had three. Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed using concatenated amino acid sequences of the 12 protein-coding genes with three methods, indicating that three species of Triodontophorus clustered together with strong statistical support. However, the genera of Strongylus and Triodontophorus belonged to Strongylinae do not cluster together, and Triodontophorus is more closely related to Cylicocyclus insigne, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus goldi (Cyathostominae) than to Strongylus. The findings from the present study provide useful genetic markers for studying the molecular ecology, systematics, and population genetics of Triodontophorus in equine.