The complete mitochondrial genome of Parnassius imperator (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae: Parnassiinae)

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Parnassius imperator (Lepidoptera: Parnassiinae) is a circular molecule of 15,424 bp in length, containing 37 typical insect mitochondrial genes and one non-coding A + T-rich region. Its gene order and arrangement are identical to the common type found in most lepidopteran mitogenomes. All protein-coding genes (PCGs) start with a typical ATN initiation codon, except for the cox1, which is initiated by the CGA codon as observed in other lepidopteran species. Some PCGs use standard TAA, while others use TAG (nad1) or incomplete codon T (cox1 and cox2), as their termination codons. 15 intergenic spacers (175 bp in total) and 10 overlapping sequences (29 bp in total) are dispersed throughout the whole genome. The 491 bp long A+ T-rich region contains some conserved structures similar to those found in other lepidopteran mitogenomes, such as the motif ATAGA followed by an 18-bp poly-T stretch, a microsatellite-like (AT)6 element preceded by the ATTTA motif. In addition, a 36 bp sequence stretch potential to form stem-loop structures is also found in the A+ T-rich region.