Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Bubo bubo (Aves, Strigiformes, Strigidae), a National Protected Wildlife Bird in China

We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Bubo bubo by the shotgun genome skimming method. The mitogenome of B. bubo is 18,956 bp in length with a base composition of 29.6% A, 22.5% T, 33.8% C and 14.1% G, and consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and two non-coding control regions (CRs). All the protein-coding genes begin with the typical ATG codon except ND3 and ND5, which initiate with ATA. Seven of the 13 PCGs terminate with the codon TAA, and three (ND2, ND4 and COX3) of the remainder end with a single T. Whereas, ND1 and COX1 terminate with a codon AGG and ND6 stops with a codon TAG. The ML phylogenetic trees based on 13 protein-coding genes indicated that Bubo species formed a monophyletic group which was sister to the genus Strix within the same family Strigidae.