Mitochondrial group I and group II introns in the sponge orders Agelasida and Axinellida.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Self-splicing introns are present in the mitochondria of members of most eukaryotic lineages. They are divided into Group I and Group II introns, according to their secondary structure and splicing mechanism. Being rare in animals, self-splicing introns were only described in a few sponges, cnidarians, placozoans and one annelid species. In sponges, three types of mitochondrial Group I introns were previously described in two demosponge families (Tetillidae, and Aplysinellidae) and in the homoscleromorph family Plakinidae. These three introns differ in their insertion site, secondary structure and in the sequence of the LAGLIDADG gene they encode. Notably, no group II introns have been previously described in sponges.

Results

We report here the presence of mitocho

SUBMITTER: Huchon D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4676843 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature