Mitochondrial replication's role in vertebrate mtDNA strand asymmetry

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2023

Authors

Gomes-dos-Santos, A (Author) Other; Vilas-Arrondo, N (Author) Other; Machado, AM (Author) Other; Román-Marcote, E (Author) Other; Del Río Iglesias, JL (Author) Other; Baldó, F (Author) Other; Pérez, M (Author) Other; Fonseca, MM (Author) Other; Filipe F C Castro (Author) FCUP; Froufe, E (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Open Biology

Vol. 74

ISSN: 2046-2441

Publisher: The Royal Society

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-011-606

DOI: 10.1098/rsob.230181

Abstract (EN): <jats:p> Mitogenomes are defined as compact and structurally stable over aeons. This perception results from a vertebrate-centric vision, where few types of mtDNA rearrangements are described. Here, we bring a new light to the involvement of mitochondrial replication in the strand asymmetry of the vertebrate mtDNA. Using several species of deep-sea hatchetfish (Sternoptychidae) displaying distinct mtDNA structural arrangements, we unravel the inversion of the coding direction of protein-coding genes (PCGs). This unexpected change is coupled with a strand asymmetry nucleotide composition reversal and is shown to be directly related to the strand location of the Control Region (CR). An analysis of the fourfold redundant sites of the PCGs (greater than 6000 vertebrates), revealed the rarity of this phenomenon, found in nine fish species (five deep-sea hatchetfish). Curiously, in Antarctic notothenioid fishes (Trematominae), where a single PCG inversion (the only other record in fish) is coupled with the inversion of the CR, the standard asymmetry is disrupted for the remaining PCGs but not yet reversed, suggesting a transitory state. Our results hint that a relaxation of the classic vertebrate mitochondrial structural <jats:italic>stasis</jats:italic> promotes disruption of the natural balance of asymmetry of the mtDNA. These findings support the long-lasting hypothesis that replication is the main molecular mechanism promoting the strand-specific compositional bias of this unique and indispensable molecule. </jats:p>

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11