Identification of complete mitochondrial genome of the tufted deer.

The tufted deer Elaphodus cephalophus are endangered animals in the world and little is understood about their mitochondrial (mt) genome. In our study, the mt genome of the tufted deer is identified--which is about 16 kb in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and a non-coding sequence (control region). The distinguishing feature is that GTG is the start codon of the NADH4L gene and the cyt b gene has a subterminal AAA followed by the stop codon TAG. According to 12 H strand protein-coding genes and phylogenetic analysis, Elaphodus may have a sister relationship with another deer group Muntiacus.