Relationship between mitochondrial gene rearrangements and stability of the origin of light strand replication

Genetics and Molecular Biology

Miguel M. Fonseca¹  D. James Harris¹ 

[1] ,Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos Vairão,Portugal

关键词: MtDNA replication;    gene rearrangements;    origin of replication;    secondary structure;    amphibians;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1415-47572008000300027

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Mitochondrial gene rearrangements are much more frequent in vertebrates than initially thought. It has been suggested that the origin of light strand replication could have an important role in the process of gene rearrangements, but this hypothesis has never been tested before. We used amphibians to test the correlation between light-strand replication origin thermodynamic stability and the occurrence of gene rearrangements. The two variables were correlated in a non-phylogenetic approach, but when tested in a phylogenetically based comparative method the correlation was not significant, although species with unstable light-strand replication origins were much more likely to have undergone gene rearrangements. This indicates that within amphibians there are stable and unstable phylogenetic groups regarding mitochondrial gene order. The species analyzed showed variability in the thermodynamic stability of the secondary structure, in the length of its stem and loop, and several species did not present the 5’-GCCGG-3’ motif reported to be necessary for efficient mitochondrial DNA replication. Future studies should focus on the role of the light-strand replication origin in mitochondrial DNA replication and gene rearrangements mechanisms.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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