Mitochondrial genome of gnathostome nematodes decoded for the first time by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Recently, the livestock parasite disease innovation team led by researcher Zhu Xingquan at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences decoded the mitochondrial genome of nematodes of the infraorder Gnathostomatomorpha for the first time in the world, laying the foundation for molecular epidemiology, population genetics and systematic taxonomy research on gnathostome nematodes. The related research results were published in the international academic journal Scientific Reports.

It is reported that gnathostome nematodes are important zoonotic parasitic nematodes, but research on their molecular biology has been very limited. The livestock parasite disease innovation team at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute used traditional sequencing methods to decode the mitochondrial genome of Gnathostoma spinigerum. The mitochondrial genome of Gnathostoma spinigerum is circular. Compared with other nematodes, the mitochondrial gene order of Gnathostoma spinigerum has undergone significant rearrangement. In addition, the study also constructed phylogenetic trees of various animal and plant nematodes based on 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes. Based on the constructed phylogenetic tree, the study also explored the position of Gnathostomatomorpha within the class Nematoda, finding that Gnathostomatomorpha is most closely related to Ascaridomorpha.

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