Do angiosperms with highly divergent mitochondrial genomes have altered mitochondrial function?

ABSTRACT: Angiosperm mitochondrial (mt) genes are generally slow-evolving, but multiple lineages have undergone dramatic accelerations in rates of nucleotide substitution and extreme changes in mt genome structure. While molecular evolution in these lineages has been investigated, very little is known about their mt function. Some studies have suggested altered respiration in individual taxa, although there are several reasons why mt variation might be neutral in others. Here, we develop a new protocol to characterize respiration in isolated plant mitochondria and apply it to species of Silene with mt genomes that are rapidly evolving, highly fragmented, and exceptionally large (~11 Mbp). This protocol, complemented with traditional measures of plant fitness, cytochrome c oxidase activity assays, an

SUBMITTER: Havird JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6885534 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature