Analysis of mitochondrial protein-coding genes ofAntheraea assamensis: Muga silkworm of Assam

To understand the synonymous codon usage pattern in mitochondrial genome ofAntheraea assamensis, we analyzed the 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes of this species using a bioinformatic approach as no work was reported yet. The nucleotide composition analysis suggested that the percentages of A, T, G,and C were 33.73, 46.39, 9.7 and 10.17, respectively and the overall GC content was 19.86, that is, lower than 50% and the genes were AT rich. The mean effective number of codons of mitochondrial protein-coding genes was 36.30 and it indicated low codon usage bias (CUB). Relative synonymous codon usage analysis suggested overrepresented and underrepresented codons in each gene and the pattern of codon usage was different among genes. Neutrality plot analysis revealed a narrow range of distribution for GC content at the third codon position and some points were diagonally distributed, suggesting both mutation pressure and natural selection influenced the CUB.

Automated summary

The study analyzed the synonymous codon usage pattern in the mitochondrial genome of Antheraea assamensis and found a preference for AT-rich genes with low GC content. Analysis revealed different patterns of codon usage among genes, influenced by both mutation pressure and natural selection.