Downloaded By: [universidad miguel hernandez] At: 11:41 11 May 2007 FULL LENGTH RESEARCH ARTICLE The complete mitochondrial genome of the Senegal sole, Solea senegalensis Kaup. Comparative analysis of tandem repeats in the control region among soles MANUEL MANCHADO, GAETANO CATANESE, MARIAN PONCE, VICTORIA FUNES, & CARLOS INFANTE IFAPA centro El Torun ˜o, 11500 El Puerto de Santa Marı ´a, Ca ´diz, Spain (Received 21 November 2006) Abstract The complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome for the Senegal sole Solea senegalensis Kaup was determined. The mitochondrial DNA was 16,659 base pairs (bp) in length. Sequence features of the 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs and 22 transfer RNAs are described. The non-coding control region (1017 bp) was compared with those of the closely related soles Solea solea and Solea lascaris. The typical conservative blocks were identified. A cluster of 42 and 22 tandemly arrayed repeats was detected near the 3 0 end of control region in S. solea and S. lascaris, respectively. On the contrary, only two (93.8% of haplotypes) or three copies (6.2%) of an 8-bp repeated sequence motif was found in S. senegalensis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that 7 out of 9 of haplotypes bearing three copies grouped in a separate cluster. Possible mechanisms influencing the evolution of control region among soles are discussed. Keywords: Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence, Senegal sole, Solea senegalensis, Solea solea, Solea lascaris, control region Introduction Flatfish share in common an asymmetrical body development and a bottom-dwelling mode of life. Their high phenotypic similarity has provoked great differences in the number and nomenclature of taxa depending on the relevance assigned to morphologic features (Chapleau 1993; Hensley 1997; Cooper and Chapleau 1998; Hoshino 2001). This fact has made necessary the development of molecular techniques based on DNA to validate controversial aspects of flatfish systematics. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been exten- sively used for phylogenetic analysis due to its small size, high abundance in the cell, maternal inheritance and high evolutionary rate (Curole and Kocher 1999). Different sets of mitochondrial markers have been applied to the establishment of phylogenetic relation- ships among flatfishes. They include the slowly evolving ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes (Berendzen and Dimmick 2002; Pardo et al. 2005), the cytochrome b gene (Borsa and Quignard 2001), the highly variable mtDNA control region (Tinti et al. 1999), and combinations of some of them (Tinti and Piccinetti 2000; Infante et al. 2004). Nevertheless, it has been shown that the use of limited sequence data and rapidly evolving molecular markers may cause errors in estimates of the evolutionary relatedness among taxa. In this sense, vertebrate complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) have demon- strated adequacy in resolving persistent controversies over higher-level relationships of teleosts (Inoue et al. 2001; Miya et al. 2001; Miya et al. 2003). Senegal sole, Solea senegalensis Kaup, is a commer- cially important flatfish species in Southern Europe. This species inhabits throughout the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and in the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea (Que ´ro et al. 1986). The decline ISSN 1042-5179 print/ISSN 1029-2365 online q 2007 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.1080/10425170701308956 Correspondence: M. Manchado, Centro IFAPA “El Torun ˜ o”, Camino Tiro de Picho ´n s/n., 11500 El Puerto de Santa Marı ´a, Ca ´diz, Spain. Tel: 34 956011315. Fax: 34 956011324. E-mail: manuel.manchado.ext@juntadeandalucia.es DNA Sequence, June 2007; 18(3): 169–175