Dynamic nucleotide mutation gradients and control region usage in squamate reptile mitochondrial genomes.

ABSTRACT: Gradients of nucleotide bias and substitution rates occur in vertebrate mitochondrial genomes due to the asymmetric nature of the replication process. The evolution of these gradients has previously been studied in detail in primates, but not in other vertebrate groups. From the primate study, the strengths of these gradients are known to evolve in ways that can substantially alter the substitution process, but it is unclear how rapidly they evolve over evolutionary time or how different they may be in different lineages or groups of vertebrates. Given the importance of mitochondrial genomes in phylogenetics and molecular evolutionary research, a better understanding of how asymmetric mitochondrial substitution gradients evolve would contribute key insights into how this gradient evolution

SUBMITTER: Castoe TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2872679 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature