Abstract
Mitochondrial processes influence a broad spectrum of physiological and developmental events in higher eukaryotes, and their aberrant function can lead to several familiar disease phenotypes in mammals. In plants, mitochondrial genes directly influence pollen development and the occurrence of male sterility in natural plant populations. Likewise, in animal systems evidence accumulates to suggest important mitochondrial functions in spermatogenesis and reproduction. Here we present evidence for a convergent gene fusion involving a MutS-homologous gene functioning within the mitochondrion and designated Msh1. In only plants and soft corals, the MutS homologue has fused with a homing endonuclease sequence at the carboxy terminus of the protein. However, the endonuclease domains in the plants and the soft corals are members of different groups. In plants, Msh1 can influence mitochondrial genome organization and male sterility expression. Based on parallels in Msh1 gene structure shared by plants and corals, and their similarities in reproductive behavior, we postulate that this convergent gene fusion might have occurred in response to coincident adaptive pressures on reproduction.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Dr. Guichuan Huo and the University of Nebraska Center for Biotechnology Microscopy Core Facility for technical assistance with confocal microscopy analysis. We also wish to thank Dr. Etsuko Moriyama for valuable comments regarding phylogenetic analysis and Drs. Guillermo Orti and Tony Zera for thoughtful discussions during preparation of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy to S.A.M. R.V.A. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship provided by the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (Brazil).
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Abdelnoor, R.V., Christensen, A.C., Mohammed, S. et al. Mitochondrial Genome Dynamics in Plants and Animals: Convergent Gene Fusions of a MutS Homologue. J Mol Evol 63, 165–173 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-005-0226-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-005-0226-9