Mitochondrial DNA variant in COX1 subunit significantly alters energy metabolism of geographically divergent wild isolates in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation can influence the penetrance of complex diseases and climatic adaptation. While studies in geographically defined human populations suggest that mtDNA mutations become fixed when they have conferred metabolic capabilities optimally suited for a specific environment, it has been challenging to definitively assign adaptive functions to specific mtDNA sequence variants in mammals. We investigated whether mtDNA genome variation functionally influences Caenorhabditis elegans wild isolates of distinct mtDNA lineages and geographic origins. We found that, relative to N2 (England) wild-type nematodes, CB4856 wild isolates from a warmer native climate (Hawaii) had a unique p.A12S amino acid substitution in the mtDNA-encoded COX1 core catalytic subunit of

SUBMITTER: Dingley SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4067970 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature