Extensive loss of translational genes in the structurally dynamic mitochondrial genome of the angiosperm Silene latifolia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mitochondrial gene loss and functional transfer to the nucleus is an ongoing process in many lineages of plants, resulting in substantial variation across species in mitochondrial gene content. The Caryophyllaceae represents one lineage that has experienced a particularly high rate of mitochondrial gene loss relative to other angiosperms.

Results

In this study, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome sequence from a member of this family, Silene latifolia. The genome can be mapped as a 253,413 bp circle, but its structure is complicated by a large repeated region that is present in 6 copies. Active recombination among these copies produces a suite of alternative genome configurations that appear to be at or near "recombinational equilibrium". The genome

SUBMITTER: Sloan DB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2942850 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature