Abstract
The White-browed Tit-warbler (Leptopoecile sophiae) is a tiny and infrequently-seen bird species that is mainly distributed in alpine scrub and forests. This species is poorly understood with respect to its natural history and genetic information. In this paper, we first presented the whole mitochondrial genome of the White-browed Tit-warbler. The whole mitochondrial sequence of this species was determined by long-range PCR and conserved primer walking approaches. The results revealed that the whole mitochondrial genome of L. sophiae was 17,803 bp in length with 54.3% A + T content; the genome has the same gene order as that of other passerine birds, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and 1 non-coding control region. The control region (D-loop) of L. sophiae was located between tRNA-Gln and tRNA-Phe with 1155 bp length. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the genome of Leptopoecile species is more closely related to Aegithalos species than to Phylloscopus species. These data provide value for further studies on molecular evolution and conservation genetics on these poorly-known Leptopoecile species at high altitudes.