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Molecular analyses of mitochondrial pseudogenes within the nuclear genome of arvicoline rodents

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Abstract

Nuclear sequences of mitochondrial origin (numts) are common among animals and plants. The mechanism(s) by which numts transfer from the mitochondrion to the nucleus is uncertain, but their insertions may be mediated in part by chromosomal repair mechanisms. If so, then lineages where chromosomal rearrangements are common should be good models for the study of numt evolution. Arvicoline rodents are known for their karyotypic plasticity and numt pseudogenes have been discovered in this group. Here, we characterize a 4 kb numt pseudogene in the arvicoline vole Microtus rossiaemeridionalis. This sequence is among the largest numts described for a mammal lacking a completely sequenced genome. It encompasses three protein-coding and six tRNA pseudogenes that span ∼25% of the entire mammalian mitochondrial genome. It is bordered by a dinucleotide microsatellite repeat and contains four transposable elements within its sequence and flanking regions. To determine the phylogenetic distribution of this numt among the arvicolines, we characterized one of the mitochondrial pseudogenes (cytochrome b) in 21 additional arvicoline species. Average rates of nucleotide substitution in this arvicoline pseudogene are estimated as 2.3 × 10−8 substitutions/per site/per year. Furthermore, we performed comparative analyses among all species to estimate the age of this mitochondrial transfer at nearly 4 MYA, predating the origin of most arvicolines.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Natural Science Research Laboratory in The Museum of Texas Tech University, The University of Alaska Museum, The Museum of Southwestern Biology, and The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley for loaning us the tissue necessary for this study. We thank David Bos, Joe Busch, Jill Detwiler, Dave Glista, David Gopurenko, Maarit Jaarola, Emily Latch, Jamie Rudnick, Sara Turner, Rod Williams and anonymous reviewer for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Our lab is funded in part by the USDA, the NSF, and Purdue University. This work is contribution number 2006-17842 from Purdue University.

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  1. Deborah A. Triant

    Present address: Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, TAMU 4458, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

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  1. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 195 Marsteller Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Deborah A. Triant & J. Andrew DeWoody

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Correspondence to Deborah A. Triant.

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All sequences generated in this study have been deposited within the GenBank database.

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Triant, D.A., DeWoody, J.A. Molecular analyses of mitochondrial pseudogenes within the nuclear genome of arvicoline rodents. Genetica 132, 21–33 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-007-9145-6

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