The mitochondrial genome of the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) lineage introduced in Europe

• Autor(a) principal: Moreira, Claudia
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Asch, Barbara, Fonseca, Luis, Pereira-Castro, Isabel, Silva, Raquel, Azevedo, Luísa, Mota, Manuel, Abrantes, Isabel, Amorim, António, Pereira, Filipe
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/10094; https://doi.org/10.3109/19401736.2013.809438
• topic: mitochondrial DNA; Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

The pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the causative agent of pine wilt disease and the greatest biological threat to conifer forests worldwide. Here we describe the near-complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence (12,945 bp) of the PWN lineage recently introduced in Europe. The absence of polymorphisms across the mtDNA of three Portuguese isolates suggests that a single mitochondrial lineage was introduced in southwestern Europe. We also found that Portuguese isolates have an incomplete stop codon (TA) at COX3, while the reference mtDNA from a South Korean isolate has a complete stop codon (TAA). Moreover, two insertion/deletion polymorphisms change the ND4 protein in a stretch of seven amino acids, and a polymorphic mononucleotide repeat alters the predicted structure of the tyrosine tRNA in different geographical isolates. Overall, the new PWN mtDNA sequence provides a basis for studying the European dispersion of this important invasive species.