Characterization of the Complete Mitogenomes of Four Dacinae Species (Diptera: Tephritidae) with Phylogenetic...

To enhance our understanding of the phylogenetics and evolutionary processes within Dacinae, we sequenced and analyzed four complete mitogenomes for the first time, specifically Acroceratitis separata, Acrotaeniostola quadrivittata, Gastrozona parviseta, and Paragastrozona vulgaris, which represent Gastrozonini species. Our results indicated that these four mitogenomes, including A. separata, A. quadrivittata, G. parviseta, and P. vulgaris, comprised 37 mitochondrial genes and an A+T-control region, with a total length of 16,603 bp, 16,112 bp, 16,691 bp, and 16,594 bp, revealing a notably high AT content reaching 77.4%, 78.4%, 75.1%, and 75.1%, respectively. Our phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood methods under site-homogeneous models consistently demonstrated their superiority over the site-heterogeneous mixture model CAT + GTR, given the currently accepted phylogenetic framework. Apart from a few species demonstrating unstable placements, the inferred phylogenetic relationships among the three tribes were strongly supported as monophyletic groups, with the topology represented as ((Ceratitidini + Gastrozonini) + Dacini), and most branches displaying moderate-to-high support values, of which four newly sequenced mitogenomes and A. dissimilis robustly formed a single clade representing Gastrozonini. This study substantially augments the existing mitogenome data, thereby providing more profound insight into the evolutionary history and higher-level phylogenetic structure within the Dacinae.