The complete mitochondrial genome of Gasterophilus intestinalis, the first representative of the family Gasterophilidae.

Gasterophilus spp. (Diptera: Gasterophilidae) has a worldwide distribution; however, no complete mitochondrial (mt) genome data is available for Diptera which has greatly impeded population genetics, phylogenetics, and systematics studies in Gasterophilidae. Mt genome is known to provide genetic markers for investigations in these areas, but complete mt genomic datasets have been lacking for many Gasterophilidae species. Herein, we present the complete mt genome of the third-stage larvae (L3) of Gasterophilus intestinalis from the stomach wall of naturally infected horses in Heilongjiang province (HLJ) and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XJ), China. The complete mt genome of G. intestinalis was 15,687 bp (HLJ) and 15,660 bp (XJ) in length and consists of 37 genes, including 13 genes for proteins, 22 genes for tRNA, and 2 genes for rRNA. The gene arrangement is the same as those of Oestroidae species. Phylogenetic analyses using concatenated amino acid sequences of 12 protein-coding genes by Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML), suggested that the families Gasterophilidae and Oestroidae were more closely related than to Tachinidae. The mt genome of G. intestinalis represents the first mt genome of any member of the family Gasterophilidae. These data provide novel mtDNA markers for studying the molecular epidemiology and population genetics of the G. intestinalis and its congeners.