Complete mitochondrial genome of Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus from India: phylogeny with other Larids

The complete mitogenome sequence of the brown-headed gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus was determined in this study. The 16,771 bp genome consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and a control region (CR). The decoded mitogenome was AT-rich (54.77%) with nine overlapping and 17 intergenic spacer regions. Most of the PCGs were started by a typical ATG initiation codon except for cox1 and nad3. Further, the usual termination codons (AGG, TAG, TAA, and AGA) were used by 11 PCGs except for cox3 and nad4. The concatenated PCGs based Bayesian phylogeny clearly discriminates all the Laridae species and reflects the sister relationship of C. brunnicephalus with C. ridibundus. The present mitogenome-based phylogeny was congruent with the earlier hypothesis and confirmed the evolutionary position of the brown-headed gull as masked species. The generated mitogenome of C. brunnicephalus is almost identical to the previously generated mitogenome from China except for two base pairs in CR. To visualize the population structure of this migratory species, we propose more sampling from different geographical locations and the generation of additional molecular data to clarify the reality.