Developing and Applying RNA Empirical Models With Secondary Structure Insights for Orthoptera Phylogenetics.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary patterns exhibited by the ring and stem regions of the RNA secondary structure are distinct. Incorporating RNA secondary structure information into evolutionary models can improve the reliability of phylogenetic trees constructed using RNA sequences. However, empirically derived RNA evolutionary models remain scarce. In this work, we reconstructed conserved secondary structures (MPI > 60%, z-score < 0) of 22 mitochondrial tRNAs and two rRNAs in Orthoptera, revealing stronger coevolution and selection signals in paired regions (D value < 0). By encoding sequences into 20-character states and employing maximum likelihood estimation, we developed three substitution models: mtRNA16 (16-state, pairing-specific), mtRNA7 (7-state, uniform mismatches), and mtRNA6 (6-

SUBMITTER: Chang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12399576 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature