Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the fat dormouse, Glis glis: further evidence of rodent paraphyly.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the fat dormouse, Glis glis, has been sequenced (16,602 bp). A total of 23 complete mitochondrial mammalian genomes have been taken into account for phylogenetic reconstruction. Phylogenetic analyses were performed with parsimony, distance (stationary Markov model), and maximum-likelihood methods. In all cases, data strongly support the paraphyly of rodents, with dormouse and guinea pig in a different clade from rat and mouse, reaching bootstrap values of 95%. Rodent monophyly and the existence of Glires (Rodentia and Lagomorpha) are weakly supported, with maximum bootstrap values of 11% and 8.6%, respectively. This result agrees with the analyses of isochore patterns in the nuclear genome and the B2 and B2-like retroposons, which show a close relationship between dormice and guinea pigs rather than between dormice and rats and mice.