Loss of mitochondrial single stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB) gene is associated with mitochondrial genome fragmentation in Psocodea (bark lice, book lice, and parasitic lice).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Organelle genome fragmentation is a drastic large-scale chromosomal mutation. Why and how organelle genomes become fragmented is still poorly understood. Two previous studies based on whole genome comparison between human louse and fruit fly proposed that the loss of mtSSB gene (for mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein) might be associated with mitochondrial (mt) genome fragmentation. Whether this association is valid has not been investigated due to the lack of mt genome fragmentation data.

Results

We investigated this association by exploring the genomic and transcriptomic data of 198 species of parasitic lice, book lice, bark lice, and other closely related hemipteroid insects accumulated in the past few decades. We show that the loss of mtSSB gene

SUBMITTER: Song N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12797587 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature