TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - Mitogenomics reveals basal Loboquintus subsquamatus in Eriophyoidea (Acariformes) with an atypical AGU anticodon in trnS1
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 55
EP  - 55
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Vladimir, Gankevich
AU  - Philipp E., Chetverikov
AU  - Vladimir, Gankevich
AU  - Philipp E., Chetverikov
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/nsxw-la23
DO  - 10.24349/nsxw-la23
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Mitogenomics
KW  - Phylogeny
KW  - Gene order
KW  - Gall mites
KW  - Gymnosperm
AB  - The superfamily Eriophyoidea Nalepa is an ancient lineage of highly host-specific phytoparasitic acariform mites. Recent phylomitogenomic analyses have recovered novel, well-supported clades that challenge the current systematics of the Eriophyoidea. However, certain data important for resolving basal divergence were not included in the analysis. In this context the mitogenomi?s of basal eriophyoid lineages, for instance relict genera Loboquintus and Pentasetacus, is of particular interest. These genera are restricted to the gymnosperm genera Cupressus (Loboquintus) and Araucaria (Pentasetacus) and have currently been recorded in East Mediterranean and Caucasus (L. subsquamatus), New Zealand (P. novozelandicus) and Chile (P. araucariae, P. plicatus). Loboquintus and Pentasetacus are phylogenetically ambiguous, positioned either within Phytoptidae s.l. or as a basal lineage (Pentasetacidae) — a putative relict Mesozoic group on archaic gymnosperms. In this study, we use a phylomitogenomic approach to characterize the L. subsquamatus mitogenome, compare it with other eriophyoid mitogenomes, and test the Loboquintus phylogenetic position within Eriophyoidea. Mites were collected from Cupressus sempervirens (Adler, Russia,07.2022). Total DNA was extracted from ethanol-preserved specimens (250 mites) and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq. Assembly was performed using metaSPAdes and Bowtie2, annotation with MITOS2 and UGENE, and alignment with MAFFT. Phylogenetic trees based on 12 protein-coding (except hypervariable gene ATP8) and 2 rRNA genes were constructed using IQ- TREE2. Osperalycus tenerphagus (Nematalycidae) was used as an outgroup. tRNAs, the control region (CR), and rRNAs secondary structures were visualized in RNAfold. Nucleotide polymorphism and codon usage were analyzed in DnaSP. The Loboquintus subsquamatus mitogenome is 14,033 bp long. It retains several previously identified canonical gall mites gene clusters, including the conserved nad6-trnT-cob cluster universal to Eriophyoidea. The cluster rrnS- trnV-rrnL is located on the mtDNA negative strand and is inverted, a configuration also present in angiosperm- associated phytoptids (Phytoptidae s.str.), and in some Calepitrimerus, Epitrimerus and Grandiscapitisspecies (Eriophyidae). The gene order is largely identical to that of Phytoptidae s.str., except for the control region (CR), uniquely positioned between genes trnM and nad2 in Loboquintus. The CR is notably long (522 bp) compared to other studied eriophyoid taxa and contains a D-loop. All tRNAs anticodons are common to eriophyoids, except for trnS1, which possesses the anticodon AGU, distinguishing Loboquintus from all previously studied eriophyoids. Phylogenetic analysis confirms the basal position of Loboquintus within Eriophyoidea, revealed paraphyly of Phytoptidae s.l. and inferred monophyletic Phytoptidae s.str. sister to a large clade comprising monophyletic Nalepellidae and Eriophyidae s.l..
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