Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Papilio protenor (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) and Implications for Papilionidae Taxonomy

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Papilio protenor (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) was sequenced and annotated in this study. The mitogenome comprised a typical circular, double-stranded DNA molecule of 15,268 bp in length including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and an A+T-rich region. The gene order and mitogenome orientation were similar to those of all known Papilionidae species. The nucleotide composition of the P. protenor mitogenome exhibits considerable A+T bias (80.5%) and the AT (−0.019) and GC (−0.231) skewness is slightly negative. All of the PCGs except for cytochrome c oxidase (COI) start with a canonical ATN start codon, whereas the COI gene is tentatively designated by the CGA codon. Of the 13 PCGs, 11 contain the complete stop codon TAA or TAG, whereas COI and COII were terminated with a single T nucleotide. All tRNAs exhibit the typical cloverleaf structure, except for tRNA(Ser(AGN)), which does not contain the dihydrouridine arm. The 458 bp A+T-rich region is comprised of nonrepetitive sequences including the motif ATAGA followed by a poly-T stretch and a microsatellite-like (AT)(6) element preceded by the ATTTA motif. Phylogenetic analysis of the 13 PCGs data using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood methods, and maximum parsimony support the view that the subfamily Parnassiinae is regarded as an independent subfamily within Papilionidae and that Zerynthiini should be treated as one of the two clades of the subfamily Parnassiinae along with Parnasiini. In addition, the analysis strongly supports the monophyly of the subfamily Parnassiinae.