[1] Mitochondrial genomes of Heterakis gallinae and Heterakis beramporia support that they belong to the infraorder Ascaridomorpha

Heterakis gallinaeandHeterakis beramporiaare the most prevalent nematode infecting native chicken breed, causing major economic losses. In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genomes (mt) ofH. gallinaeandH. beramporiawere amplified by long-PCR and then sequenced. The complete mt genomes ofH. gallinaeandH. beramporiawere 13,973bp and 14,012bp in size, respectively. Both mt genomes contain 12 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. All genes are transcribed in the same direction and the gene arrangement is identical to Ascaridia spp. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 12 protein-coding genes revealed that the family Heterakidae (represented byH. gallinaeandH. beramporia) was more closely related to the infraorder Ascaridomorpha than it was to the infraorder Oxyuridomorpha. The present study determined the complete mt genome sequences for twoHeterakisspecies, providing useful markers for studying the systematics, population genetics, and molecular epidemiology of theseHeterakisparasites.