The complete mitochondrial genome of Bemisia afer (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

Abstract

The length of the Bemisia afer (Priesner and Hosny) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) is 14,968 bp and consists of 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 21 transfer RNAs (tRNA), 2 ribosomal RNAs and 1 control region. Apart from one serine transfer RNA gene (tRNA-Ser) which is absent, the synteny is consistent with the mitogenomes of other whitefly species. The overall base composition of the heavy strand for A, G, T and C is 28.96, 18.97, 36.7 and 15.37%, respectively, with a slight AT bias. Two rare codons (GTG and TTG) are employed as start codons by some PCGs. B. afer is a group of cryptic species. This first mitogenome cloned from African cassava B. afer, therefore, both enrich the whitefly molecular resource and will aid the sequencing of the other species mitogenomes. It will contribute significantly to resolving the systematics of the B. afer complex.