Evolution of the mitochondrial genome in snakes: gene rearrangements and phylogenetic relationships.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Snakes as a major reptile group display a variety of morphological characteristics pertaining to their diverse behaviours. Despite abundant analyses of morphological characters, molecular studies using mitochondrial and nuclear genes are limited. As a result, the phylogeny of snakes remains controversial. Previous studies on mitochondrial genomes of snakes have demonstrated duplication of the control region and translocation of trnL to be two notable features of the alethinophidian (all serpents except blindsnakes and threadsnakes) mtDNAs. Our purpose is to further investigate the gene organizations, evolution of the snake mitochondrial genome, and phylogenetic relationships among several major snake families.

Results

The mitochondrial genomes were sequenced for f

SUBMITTER: Yan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2632649 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature