Abstract
The mitochondrial genome of plants is-in every respect and for yet unclear reasons-very different from the well-studied one of animals. Thanks to next-generation sequencing technologies, Davila et al. precisely characterized the role played by recombination and DNA repair in controlling mitochondrial variations in Arabidopsis thaliana, thus opening new perspectives on the long-term evolution of this intriguing genome.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/64The mitochondrial genome of plants is a challenge to molecular evolutionary biologists. Its content is highly dynamic: plant mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is large and variable in size (200 to 2,500 kb), contains many introns and repeated elements (typically 90% of the total sequence), and experiences frequent gene gain/loss/transfer/duplication, and genome rearrangements [1]. Its nucleotide substitution rate, paradoxically, is remarkably low-even lower than for nuclear DNA. These features are in sharp contrast with the highly studied mtDNA of animals, which is small-sized, structurally conserved, devoid of selfish elements, and has a very fast nucleotide substitution rate [2]. Why these two genomes behave so differently is one of the most head-scratching questions of current comparative genomics. The study by Davila et al. [3] contributes a potentially decisive argument by connecting the plant mtDNA mutation rate to yet another intriguing feature of this organellar genome-recombination.
Highlights
The mitochondrial genome of plants is - in every respect and for yet unclear reasons - very different from the well-studied one of animals
DNA repair: keeping a watch on repeated elements Unlike in animal mitochondria, recombination is wide spread in plant mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
They report that MSH1 mutants experience mitochondrial recombi nation at a much higher rate than the wild type, as reflected by the frequent detection of rearranged mito chondrial molecules generated by illegitimate recombination between repeated elements
Summary
The mitochondrial genome of plants is - in every respect and for yet unclear reasons - very different from the well-studied one of animals. DNA repair: keeping a watch on repeated elements Unlike in animal mitochondria, recombination is wide spread in plant mtDNA.
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