Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the Japanese sardine Sardinops melanostictus

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome for a Japanese sardine, Sardinops melanostictus (Teleostei: Clupeiformes). The entire genome was purified by gene amplification using long polymerase chain reactions (PCR), and the products were subsequently used as templates for PCR with 30 sets of fish-versatile primers (including three species-sp ecific primers) that amplify contiguous, overlapping segments of the entire genome. Direct sequencing of the PCR products demonstrated that the genome [16881 base pairs (bp)] contained the same 37 mitochondrial structural gen es (two ribosomal RNA, 22 transfer RNA, and 13 protein-coding genes) as fou nd in other vertebrates, with the gene order identical to that in typical v ertebrates. A major non-coding region between the tRNA(Pro) and tRNA(Phe) g enes (1200 bp) was considered as the control (D-loop) region, as it has sev eral conservative blocks characteristic to this region.