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Recombination in Mitochondrial DNA of European Mussels Mytilus

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Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA was long believed to be purely clonal and free from recombination. Major phylogenetic studies still depend on such assumptions. The peculiar genetic system of marine mussels Mytilus in which two divergent mitochondrial genomes exist provides a unique opportunity to study mtDNA recombination. Previous reports showed the existence of a few haplotypes having very strong recombination signal in the control region of mtDNA. Those recombinant variants have been found in a Baltic Sea population of Mytilus trossulus as well as in Mytilus galloprovincialis from the Black Sea. In both cases the mosaic genomes switched their transmission route and have been inherited paternally. In the present study rearranged mtDNA genomes found in all three European Mytilus species are described. The structure of their control region is a result of intra- and intermolecular recombination between mitochondrial genomes. Together with the phylogenetic reconstruction and geographic distribution, this suggests that two interlineage recombination events have occurred in the control region of mtDNA of European mussels Mytilus. Contrary to earlier observations, some of the mosaic genomes do not show any gender bias, which has important implications regarding the transmission and evolution of blue mussel mitochondrial genomes.

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Acknowledgment

This work was partially supported by Grant N30300531/0226 from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education to R.W.

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  1. Department of Genetics and Marine Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712, Sopot, Poland

    Monika Filipowicz, Artur Burzyński, Beata Śmietanka & Roman Wenne

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  1. Monika Filipowicz
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  2. Artur Burzyński
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  3. Beata Śmietanka
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  4. Roman Wenne
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Correspondence to Artur Burzyński.

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Filipowicz, M., Burzyński, A., Śmietanka, B. et al. Recombination in Mitochondrial DNA of European Mussels Mytilus . J Mol Evol 67, 377–388 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-008-9157-6

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