Search

Menu
Search
in Ecology

Complete mitochondrial genomes of Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus nathusii, along with the resolution of the taxonomic positions of Pipistrellus and Nyctalus

105 Views


Abstract

Vespertilionidae is the bat family with the highest number of species and has been studied for years using various methods such as morphology, mitochondrial, and nuclear DNA. However, the taxonomy and systematics of several groups within this family remain controversial, and many relationships are still unresolved. In this study, complete mitochondrial data (15.797–16.719 base pairs) of Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus nathusii were presented with the gene characteristics, and it was also aimed to reveal the phylogenetic relationship between Pipistrellus and Nyctalus. In this context, Eastern Pipistrellus species (P. coromandra, P. abramus, together with Glischropus bucephalus) were located distantly from Western Pipistrellus (P. pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. kuhlii, and P. nathusii) and Nyctalus (N. noctula, N. aviator, and N. plancyi) species, with the mean genetic distance (d) values of 15.9–17.0% between these three lineages. On the other hand, P. nathusii showed a closer relationship with Nyctalus than with Pipistrellus. The genetic distances indicate that Nyctalus, Western Pipistrellus, and the Eastern Pipistrellus lineage (e.g., Alionoctula) may represent three distinct genus-level lineages suggesting that the genus Pipistrellus in its current definition may be paraphyletic. Moreover, the d value of 0.03% between N. noctula and N. plancyi supports the subspecies status of N. plancyi.

Data availability

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available in the GenBank repository, [Accession numbers: PX315789- PX315794].

References

  1. Hoofer, S. R. & Van Den Bussche, R. A. Molecular phylogenetics of the chiropteran family Vespertilionidae. Acta Chiropt. 5, 1–63. https://doi.org/10.3161/001.005.s101 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Platt, R. N. et al. Large numbers of novel miRNAs originate from DNA transposons and are coincident with a large species radiation in bats. Mol. Biol. Evol. 31, 1536–1545. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msu112 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mammal Diversity Database. (Version 2.2) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15007505

  4. Simmons, N. B. & Cirranello, A. L. Bat species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic database. (2024). https://batnames.org/

  5. Simmons, N. B. Order Chiroptera. 3rd ed. In Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. (eds. Wilson, D. E. & Reeder, D.M.)Johns Hopkins University Press, (2005).

  6. Tate, G. H. H. Review of the Vespertilionine bats: with special attention to genera and species of the Archbold collections. Bull. Am. Mus. 80, 221–297 (1942).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ellerman, J. R. & Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals 1758 to 1946. (British Museum (Natural History), (1966).

  8. Menu, H. Révision du statut de Pipistrellus subflavus (F. Cuvier, 1832). Proposition d’un taxon générique nouveau: Perimyotis nov. gen. Mammalia 4, 409–416 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Koopman, K. F. Mammalia: Chiroptera. Handbook of Zoology. (eds. Wermuth, H & DeGruyter W.)DeGruyter, (1994).

  10. Kruskop, S. V., Solovyeva, E. N. & Kaznadzey, A. D. Unusual pipistrelle: taxonomic position of the Malayan Noctule (Pipistrellus stenopterus; Vespertilionidae; Chiroptera). Zool. Stud. 57, e60 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hill, J. E. & Harrison, D. L. The baculum in the Vespertilioninae (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) with a systematic review, a synopsis of Pipistrellus and Eptesicus, and the descriptions of a new genus and subgenus. Bull. br. Mus. nat. Hist. Zool. 52, 225–305. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.18307 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Mayer, F. & Von Helversen, O. Cryptic diversity in European bats. Proc. R Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sc. 268, 1825–1832. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1744 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Roehrs, Z. P., Lack, J. B. & Van Den Bussche, R. A. Tribal phylogenetic relationships within Vespertilioninae (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data. J. Mammal. 91, 1073–1092. https://doi.org/10.1644/09-mamm-a-325.1 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Heaney, L. R., Balete, D. S., Alviola, P., Rickart, E. A. & Ruedi, M. Nyctalus plancyi and Falsistrellus petersi (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from northern Luzon, Philippines: ecology, phylogeny, and biogeographic implications. Acta Chiropt. 14, 265–278. https://doi.org/10.3161/150811012X661602 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Koubínová, D., Irwin, N., Hulva, P., Koubek, P. & Zima, J. Hidden diversity in Senegalese bats and associated findings in the systematics of the family Vespertilionidae. Front. zool. 10, 48. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-9994-10-48 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Locatelli, A. G., Jebb, D. & Teeling, E. C. The complete mitochondrial genome of Kuhl’s pipistrelle, Pipistrellus kuhlii (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Mitochondrial DNA B. 1, 423–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2016.1176886 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kim, J. Y. et al. Complete mitochondrial genome of the house bat Pipistrellus abramus (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Korea. Mitochondrial DNA B. 2, 540–541. https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2017.1365644 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Lee, S. M. et al. Complete mitochondrial genome of Nyctalus aviator and phylogenetic analysis of the family Vespertilionidae. J. Species Res. 8, 313–317 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Zhukova, S. S., Solovyeva, E. N., Artyushin, I. V. & Kruskop, S. V. Paraphyly of the pipistrelles (Pipistrellus; Vespertilionidae) is confirmed by the analysis of the nuclear gene markers. Dokl. Biochem. Biophys. 507, 302–306. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1607672922060138 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Zhukova, S. S., Speranskaya, A. S., Lisenkova, A. A. & Kruskop, S. V. The complete mitochondrial genome of Glischropus bucephalus (Vespertilionidae; Chiroptera) provides new evidence for Pipistrellus paraphyly. Diversity 15, 1085. https://doi.org/10.3390/d15101085 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Zhukova, S. S., Yuzefovich, A. P., Lebedev, V. S. & Kruskop, S. V. Reassessment of the Taxonomic Borders Within Pipistrellus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Pipistrellini). Diversity 17, 317. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17050317 (2025).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Dool, S. E. & Puechmaille, S. J. Challenges in the Vespertilionidae phylogeny: resolving Pipistrellus nathusii placement and affirming generic status for Asian pipistrelles. J. Mammal. 106, 458–468. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyae126 (2025).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Roehrs, Z. P., Lack, J. B. & Van Den Bussche, R. A. A molecular phylogenetic reevaluation of the tribe Nycticeiini (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Acta Chiropt. 13, 17–31. https://doi.org/10.3161/150811011×578598 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Volleth, M. et al. Karyotype comparison and phylogenetic relationships of Pipistrellus-like bats (Vespertilionidae; Chiroptera; Mammalia). Chromosome Res. 9, 25–46. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1026787515840 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Anderson, S. et al. Sequence and organization of the human mitochondrial genome. Nature 290, 457–465. https://doi.org/10.1038/290457a0 (1981).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Clary, D. O. & Wolstenholme, D. R. The mitochondrial DNA molecule of Drosophila yakuba: nucleotide sequence, gene organization, and genetic code. J. Mol. Evol. 22, 252–271. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02099755 (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Wolstenholme, D. R. Animal mitochondrial DNA: structure and evolution. Int. Rev. Cytol. 141, 173–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0074-7696(08)62066-5 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Nabholz, B., Glémin, S. & Galtier, N. The erratic mitochondrial clock: variations of mutation rate, not population size, affect mtDNA diversity across birds and mammals. BMC Evol. Biol. 9, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-9-54 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Fernández-Silva, P., Enriquez, J. A. & Montoya, J. Replication and transcription of mammalian mitochondrial DNA. Exp. Physiol. 88, 4–56. https://doi.org/10.1113/eph8802514 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ballard, J. W. O. & Whitlock, M. C. The incomplete natural history of mitochondria. Mol. Ecol. 13, 729–744. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.02063.x (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Aanen, D. K., Spelbrink, J. N. & Beekman, M. What cost mitochondria? The maintenance of functional mitochondrial DNA within and across generations. Philos. Trans. R Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 369, 20130438. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0438 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Qian, K., Yu, D., Cheng, H., Storey, K. B. & Zhang, J. The complete mitochondrial genome of Nyctalus noctula (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Mitochondrial DNA A. 27, 2365–2366. https://doi.org/10.3109/19401736.2015.1028032 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Rahman, M. M., Yoon, K. B., Kim, J. Y., Hussin, M. Z. & Park, Y. C. Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Indian pipistrelle Pipistrellus coromandra (Vespertilioninae). Annim Cells Syst. 20, 86–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/19768354.2016.1150877 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Nikaido, M. et al. Maximum likelihood analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes of eutherians and a reevaluation of the phylogeny of bats and insectivores. J. Mol. Evol. 53, 508–516. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002390010241 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Jiang, L. et al. Complete mitochondrial genome of Chinese Noctule bat, Nyctalus plancyi (Microchiroptera: Vespertilionidae. Conserv. Genet Resour. 11, 259–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-018-1002-7 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Reyes, A., Gissi, C., Pesole, G. & Saccone, C. Asymmetrical directional mutation pressure in the mitochondrial genome of mammals. Mol. Biol. Evol. 15, 957–966. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026011 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Gibson, A., Gowri-Shankar, V., Higgs, P. G. & Rattray, M. A. comprehensive analysis of mammalian mitochondrial genome base composition and improved phylogenetic methods. Mol. Biol. Evol. 22, 251–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msi012 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  38. Meganathan, P. R., Pagan, H. J., McCulloch, E. S., Stevens, R. D. & Ray, D. A. Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of three bats species and whole genome mitochondrial analyses reveal patterns of codon bias and lend support to a basal split in Chiroptera. Gene 492, 121–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2011.10.038 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Ellegren, H., Smith, N. G. & Webster, M. T. Mutation rate variation in the mammalian genome. Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 13, 562–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gde.2003.10.008 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Yakovchuk, P., Protozanova, E. & Frank-Kamenetskii, M. D. Base-stacking and base-pairing contributions into thermal stability of the DNA double helix. Nucl. Acids Res. 4, 564–574. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkj454 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  41. Hulva, P., Horáček, I., Strelkov, P. P. & Benda, P. Molecular architecture of Pipistrellus pipistrellus/Pipistrellus pygmaeus complex (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae): further cryptic species and Mediterranean origin of the divergence. Mol. Phylogenet Evol. 32, 1023–1035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2004.04.007 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  42. Allen, G. M. The Mammals of China and Mongolia. Natural History of Central Asia. Cent. Asiatic Expeditions Am. Museum Nat. History Newyork. 11, 1–620. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.12195 (1938).

    Google Scholar 

  43. Steppan, S. J., Adkin, R. M., Spinks, P. Q. & Hale, C. Multigene phylogeny of the Old World mice, Murinae, reveals distinct geographic lineages and the declining utility of mitochondrial genes compared to nuclear genes. Mol. Phylogenet Evol. 37, 370–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.016 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  44. Kim, J. Y. & Park, Y. C. Gene organization and characterization of the complete mitogenome of Hypsugo alaschanicus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Genet. Mol. Res. 14, 16325–16331. https://doi.org/10.4238/2015.december.8.24 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  45. Meng, G., Li, Y., Yang, C. & Liu, S. MitoZ: a toolkit for animal mitochondrial genome assembly, annotation and visualization. Nucl. Acids Res. 47, e63–e63. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz173 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  46. Krzywinski, M. et al. Circos: an information aesthetic for comparative genomics. Genome Res. 19, 1639–1645. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.092759.109 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  47. Hamming, R. W. Error detecting and error correcting codes. Bell Syst. Tech. J. 29, 147–160. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1950.tb00463.x (1950).

    Google Scholar 

  48. Kumar, S. et al. MEGA12: molecular evolutionary genetic analysis version 12 for adaptive and green computing. Mol. Biol. Evol. 41, msae263. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msae263 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  49. Guindon, S. & Gascuel, O. A simple, fast, and accurate algorithm to estimate large phylogenies by maximum likelihood. Syst. Biol. 52, 696–704. https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150390235520 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  50. Darriba, D., Taboada, G. L., Doallo, R. & Posada, D. jModelTest 2: more models, new heuristics and parallel computing. Nat. Methods. 9, 772–772. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2109 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  51. Hasegawa, M., Kishino, H. & Yano, T. Dating of the human-ape splitting by a molecular clock of mitochondrial DNA. J. Mol. Evol. 22, 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02101694 (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  52. Tavaré, S. Some probabilistic and statistical problems in the analysis of DNA sequences. In Some Mathematical Questions in Biology: DNA Sequence Analysis (ed Karlin, S.) 57–86 (American Mathematical Society, (1986).

  53. Ronquist, F. et al. MrBayes 3.2: efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Syst. Biol. 61, 539–542. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Collecting the specimens was supported by Ankara University Scientific Research Projects Unit (Project no: FDK-2022-2435).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Ankara, Besevler, 06100, Ankara, Türkiye

    Derya Çetintürk, Emre Barlas & Nuri Yiğit

Authors

  1. Derya Çetintürk
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emre Barlas
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nuri Yiğit
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: DÇ and NY. Methodology: DÇ. Field experiments: EB, NY. Investigation: DÇ, EB, NY. Analysis: DÇ. Writing – original draft preparation: DÇ, EB, NY. Writing – review and editing: DÇ, EB, NY. Supervision: NY.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to
Derya Çetintürk.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1 (download XLSX )

Supplementary Material 2 (download XLSX )

Supplementary Material 3 (download XLSX )

Supplementary Material 4 (download DOCX )

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Çetintürk, D., Barlas, E. & Yiğit, N. Complete mitochondrial genomes of Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus nathusii, along with the resolution of the taxonomic positions of Pipistrellus and Nyctalus.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46786-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46786-2

Keywords

  • Mitochondrial DNA
  • Noctule
  • Phylogeny
  • Pipistrelle
  • Vesper bats

Source: Ecology - nature.com

The importance of competition and facilitation for global tree diversity

Shell game: Neanderthal use of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the Last Interglacial landscape of Neumark-Nord (Germany)

This portal is not a newspaper as it is updated without periodicity. It cannot be considered an editorial product pursuant to law n. 62 of 7.03.2001. The author of the portal is not responsible for the content of comments to posts, the content of the linked sites. Some texts or images included in this portal are taken from the internet and, therefore, considered to be in the public domain; if their publication is violated, the copyright will be promptly communicated via e-mail. They will be immediately removed.

Back to Top
Close