| Abstract: | Qaidam cattle(Bos taurus) is an important endemic breed in Northwest China, which is mainly distributed in the northwest of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It has strong adaptive ability to plateau and swamp conditions, such as cold tolerance and insect resistance. In this study, the first complete mitochondrial genome of Qaidam cattle was reported. The circular double-stranded genome is 16 340 bp in size, and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a D-loop region. The overall nucleotide composition is 33.4% A, 27.2% T, 26.0% C and 13.4% G, with a total A +T content of60.6%. The gene order and composition are similar to those of other B. taurus breeds. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that Qaidam cattle was split as an independent clade and nested within Asian cattle breeds. |
