Comparative Analysis of Mitogenomes of Chironomus (Diptera: Chironomidae).

(1) Background: Chironomids are biological indicators, playing an important role in monitoring and assessing the changes in water ecosystems. Mitochondrial genomes have been widely applied as a molecular marker to analyze the taxonomy and phylogeny of insects. However, knowledge of the mitogenomes of species is scarce at present, which limits our understanding of the evolutionary relationships among . (2) Methods: In our study, the mitogenomes and their basic structure of 12 species and one species were newly sequenced. Combined with reported mitogenomes, a total of 15 mitogenomes of were selected for a comparative mitogenomic analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction of . (3) Results: Each mitogenome of the species has the typical 37 genes and a control region. The basic structure of the whole mitogenomes of species is relatively conservative, and the genetic arrangements stay the same as the ancestral mitogenome. (4) Conclusions: Our study enriches the library of mitogenomes of chironomids and provides a valuable resource for understanding the evolutionary history of .