The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Booklouse, Liposcelis decolor: Insights into Gene Arrangement and Genome Organization within the Genus Liposcelis

Booklice in the genus Liposcelis are pests of stored grain products. They pose a considerable economic threat to global food security and safety. To date, the complete mitochondrial genome has only been determined for a single booklouse species Liposcelis bostrychophila. Unlike most bilateral animals, which have their 37 mt genes on one circular chromosome, ≈15 kb in size, the mt genome of L. bostrychophila has two circular chromosomes, 8 and 8.5 kb in size. Here, we report the mt genome of another booklouse, Liposcelis decolor. The mt genome of L. decolor has the typical mt chromosome of bilateral animals, 14,405 bp long with 37 genes (13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs and 2 rRNAs). However, the arrangement of these genes in L. decolor differs substantially from that observed in L. bostrychophila and other insects. With the exception of atp8-atp6, L. decolor differs from L. bostrychophila in the arrangement of all of the other 35 genes. The variation in the mt genome organization and mt gene arrangement between the two Liposcelis species is unprecedented for closely related animals in the same genus. Furthermore, our results indicate that the two-chromosome mt genome organization observed in L. bostrychophila likely evolved recently after L. bostrychophila and L. decolor split from their most recent common ancestor.