Accelerated Mitochondrial Genome Evolution in Parasitic Barnacles Driven by Adaptive and Non-adaptive Responses.

ABSTRACT: Parasitic lifestyles often impose profound evolutionary pressures, affecting molecular evolution through both adaptive and non-adaptive mechanisms. Among barnacles (subclass Cirripedia), the obligate parasitic Rhizocephala differ markedly from their filter-feeding thoracican relatives in morphology, ecology, and life history. However, how the shift to parasitism has shaped mitochondrial genome evolution within Cirripedia remains unclear. Here, we present the first comprehensive comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes between parasitic and non-parasitic barnacles, including three newly sequenced and one unpublished species of parasitic Rhizocephala, a clade whose mitochondrial genomes had not been characterized until now. Phylogenomic and molecular evolutionary analyses reveal that Rh

SUBMITTER: Jung J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12696376 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature