scholarly journals Molluscan mitochondrial genomes break the rules

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1825) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Ghiselli ◽  
André Gomes-dos-Santos ◽  
Coen M. Adema ◽  
Manuel Lopes-Lima ◽  
Joel Sharbrough ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Biology ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Gene Duplications ◽  
Considerable Effort ◽  
Doubly Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Biological History

The first animal mitochondrial genomes to be sequenced were of several vertebrates and model organisms, and the consistency of genomic features found has led to a ‘textbook description’. However, a more broad phylogenetic sampling of complete animal mitochondrial genomes has found many cases where these features do not exist, and the phylum Mollusca is especially replete with these exceptions. The characterization of full mollusc mitogenomes required considerable effort involving challenging molecular biology, but has created an enormous catalogue of surprising deviations from that textbook description, including wide variation in size, radical genome rearrangements, gene duplications and losses, the introduction of novel genes, and a complex system of inheritance dubbed ‘doubly uniparental inheritance’. Here, we review the extraordinary variation in architecture, molecular functioning and intergenerational transmission of molluscan mitochondrial genomes. Such features represent a great potential for the discovery of biological history, processes and functions that are novel for animal mitochondrial genomes. This provides a model system for studying the evolution and the manifold roles that mitochondria play in organismal physiology, and many ways that the study of mitochondrial genomes are useful for phylogeny and population biology. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Molluscan genomics: broad insights and future directions for a neglected phylum’.

scholarly journals New Frontiers inSchistosomaGenomics and Transcriptomics

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laila A. Nahum ◽  
Marina M. Mourão ◽  
Guilherme Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Blood Flukes ◽  
Causative Agents ◽  
Mitochondrial Sequences ◽  
Modern Technologies

Schistosomes are digenean blood flukes of aves and mammals comprising 23 species. Some species are causative agents of human schistosomiasis, the second major neglected disease affecting over 230 million people worldwide. Modern technologies including the sequencing and characterization of nucleic acids and proteins have allowed large-scale analyses of parasites and hosts, opening new frontiers in biological research with potential biomedical and biotechnological applications. Nuclear genomes of the three most socioeconomically important species (S. haematobium,S. japonicum, andS. mansoni) have been sequenced and are under intense investigation. Mitochondrial genomes of sixSchistosomaspecies have also been completely sequenced and analysed from an evolutionary perspective. Furthermore, DNA barcoding of mitochondrial sequences is used for biodiversity assessment of schistosomes. Despite the efforts in the characterization ofSchistosomagenomes and transcriptomes, many questions regarding the biology and evolution of this important taxon remain unanswered. This paper aims to discuss some advances in the schistosome research with emphasis on genomics and transcriptomics. It also aims to discuss the main challenges of the current research and to point out some future directions in schistosome studies.

scholarly journals Molecular Evolution and Recombination in Gender-Associated Mitochondrial DNAs of the Manila Clam Tapes philippinarum

Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 164 (2) ◽  
pp. 603-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Passamonti ◽  
Jeffrey L Boore ◽  
Valerio Scali
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Molecular Evolution ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Doubly Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Tapes Philippinarum ◽  
Mitochondrial Dnas ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mitochondrial Dna Heteroplasmy

Abstract Doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) provides an intriguing system for addressing aspects of molecular evolution and intermolecular recombination of mitochondrial DNA. For this reason, a large sequence analysis has been performed on Tapes philippinarum (Bivalvia, Veneridae), which has mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy that is consistent with a DUI. The sequences of a 9.2-kb region (containing 29 genes) from 9 individuals and the sequences of a single gene from another 44 individuals are analyzed. Comparisons suggest that the two sex-related mitochondrial genomes do not experience a neutral pattern of divergence and that selection may act with varying strength on different genes. This pattern of evolution may be related to the long, separate history of M and F genomes within their tissue-specific “arenas.” Moreover, our data suggest that recombinants, although occurring in soma, may seldom be transmitted to progeny in T. philippinarum.

scholarly journals Mitogenomics of Perumytilus purpuratus (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) and its implications for doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondria

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Śmietanka ◽  
Marek Lubośny ◽  
Aleksandra Przyłucka ◽  
Karin Gérard ◽  
Artur Burzyński
Keyword(s):  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Maternal Lineage ◽  
Doubly Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Musculista Senhousia ◽  
Perumytilus Purpuratus ◽  
First Time ◽  
Complete Mitochondrial Genomes

Animal mitochondria are usually inherited through the maternal lineage. The exceptional system allowing fathers to transmit their mitochondria to the offspring exists in some bivalves. Its taxonomic spread is poorly understood and new mitogenomic data are needed to fill the gap. Here, we present for the first time the two divergent mitogenomes from Chilean mussel Perumytilus purpuratus. The existence of these sex-specific mitogenomes confirms that this species has the doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondria. The genetic distance between the two mitochondrial lineages in P. purpuratus is not only much bigger than in the Mytilus edulis species complex but also greater than the distance observed in Musculista senhousia, the only other DUI-positive member of the Mytilidae family for which both complete mitochondrial genomes were published to date. One additional, long ORF (open reading frame) is present exclusively in the maternal mitogenome of P. purpuratus. This ORF evolves under purifying selection, and will likely be a target for future DUI research.

Segregation of sperm mitochondria in two- and four-cell embryos of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis: implications for the mechanism of doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA

Genome ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 799-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T Cogswell ◽  
Ellen L.R Kenchington ◽  
Eleftherios Zouros
Keyword(s):  
Mytilus Edulis ◽  
Blue Mussel ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Cleavage Furrow ◽  
Doubly Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Developmental Mechanism ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
The Family ◽  
Early Developmental

Species of the family Mytilidae have 2 mitochondrial genomes, one that is transmitted through the egg and one that is transmitted through the sperm. In the Mytilus edulis species complex (M. edulis, M. galloprovincialis, and M. trossulus) there is also a strong mother-dependent sex-ratio bias in favor of one or the other sex among progeny from pair matings. In a previous study, we have shown that sperm mitochondria enter the egg and that their behavior during cell division is different depending on whether the egg originated from a female- or male-biased mother. Specifically, in eggs from females that produce mostly or exclusively daughters, sperm mitochondria disperse randomly among cells after egg division. In eggs from females that produce predominantly sons, sperm mitochondria tend to stay together in the same cell. Here, we extend these observations and show that in 2- and 4-cell embryos from male-biased mothers most sperm mitochondria are located near or at the cleavage furrow of the major cell, in contrast to embryos from female-biased mothers where there is no preferential association of sperm mitochondria with the cleavage furrow. This observation provides evidence for an early developmental mechanism through which sperm mitochondria are preferentially channeled into the primordial cells of male embryos, thus making the paternal mitochondrial genome the dominant mtDNA component of the male germ line.Key words: mussels, doubly uniparental inheritance of mtDNA, sperm mitochondria.

scholarly journals Expanding the Search for Sperm Transmission Elements in the Mitochondrial Genomes of Bivalve Mollusks

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1211
Author(s):  
Donald T. Stewart ◽  
Brent M. Robicheau ◽  
Noor Youssef ◽  
Manuel A. Garrido-Ramos ◽  
Emily E. Chase ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Bivalve Mollusks ◽  
Doubly Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
In Silico Studies ◽  
Marine Mussels ◽  
Mediterranean Mussel ◽  
Window Approach

Doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in bivalve mollusks is one of the most notable departures from the paradigm of strict maternal inheritance of mtDNA among metazoans. Recently, work on the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis suggested that a nucleotide motif in the control region of this species, known as the sperm transmission element (STE), helps protect male-transmitted mitochondria from destruction during spermatogenesis. Subsequent studies found similar, yet divergent, STE motifs in other marine mussels. Here, we extend the in silico search for mtDNA signatures resembling known STEs. This search is carried out for the large unassigned regions of 157 complete mitochondrial genomes from within the Mytiloida, Veneroida, Unionoida, and Ostreoida bivalve orders. Based on a sliding window approach, we present evidence that there are additional putative STE signatures in the large unassigned regions of several marine clams and freshwater mussels with DUI. We discuss the implications of this finding for interpreting the origin of doubly uniparental inheritance in ancestral bivalve mollusks, as well as potential future in vitro and in silico studies that could further refine our understanding of the early evolution of this unusual system of mtDNA inheritance.

scholarly journals The inheritance of viable mitochondria

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Milani ◽  
Fabrizio Ghiselli
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Information ◽  
Mitochondrial Membrane ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Uniparental Inheritance ◽  
Oxygen Species ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Mtdna Mutation ◽  
Doubly Uniparental Inheritance

Mitochondria cannot be produced de novo by the cell, but are inherited across generations. Their peculiar genetics (multiple genomes per cell, no meiosis, replication independent from cell cycle, high mutation rate) and the possible exposition to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are predicted to produce a fast accumulation of deleterious mutations, a phenomenon known as Müller’s ratchet. Nonetheless, mitochondrial genomes persist accurately over million years. How is a viable mitochondrial genetic information preserved? To answer this question we review the following relevant topics: 1) the sources of mtDNA mutation (replication and ROS); 2) the origin of mitochondrial membrane potential; 3) the activity of germ line mitochondria; 4) the mitochondrial bottleneck; 5) mtDNA drift and selection. Finally we discuss such topics in the light of an unusual biological system (Doubly Uniparental Inheritance of mitochondria, DUI), in which also sperm mtDNA is regularly transmitted to the progeny.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document