Mitogenomics of Psorodonotus ebneri Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1861 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae): Selection profile and patterns of intraspecific and interspecific divergence

Advances in DNA sequencing technologies have made comparative mitogenome studies available. However, studies on intraspecific mitogenome variation are still rare. This study reports total mitogenome of Psorodonotus ebneri Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1861 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), highlighting selection profile and intraspecific and interspecific divergence in protein-coding genes (PCGs). To this end, two datasets were analysed, one including five P. ebneri mitogenomes and the other additionally possessing a mitogenome of P. venosus (Fischer von Waldheim, 1839). Results showed that the mitogenome of P. ebneri consists of 37 genes and an AT-rich region, ordering as in Pancrustacean, constituting 15645-15668 base pairs. Among 38 gene borders, eight had intergenic sequences (IGS) and seven overlapping (OR). All tRNAs exhibited the typical clover-leaf structure except for trnS1. Pairwise distance ranges between 0.001-0.003 among sequences of P. ebneri and ~0.12 between P. ebneri and P. venosus. The dN/dS and neutrality index indicated purifying selection in PCGs. We arrived at the following conclusions: (i) P. ebneri mitogenomes show characteristics of Orthoptera and Pancrustacea, (ii) IGS and OR appear conserved in Tettigoniidae, (iii) low intraspecific variation is likely due to small population size, and (iv) most of the PCGs evolved under purifying selection suggesting no specific adaptation to montane habitats.