Phylogenetic and evolutionary insights from 30 newly-assembled <i>Onygenales</i> Mitochondrial Genomes: co-evolution of introns and HEGs shapes mitogenome size variation.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) provide valuable resources for investigating fungal evolution; however, comprehensive mitogenomic datasets for Onygenales are still scarce. Here, we assembled and annotated 30 new mitogenomes representing 18 species across five families, substantially expanding the available resources for this order. We tested two evolutionary hypotheses: (1) that structural features of mitochondrial genomes are phylogenetically conserved and (2) that introns and homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) have co-evolved and contributed to genome size variation. All mitogenomes exhibited conserved protein-coding content, but showed considerable variation in intron number and genome size. Phylogenetic signal was significant for multiple traits, including gene number and intron abu

SUBMITTER: Romao HAA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12290462 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature