University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

A broad survey of recombination in animal mitochondrial DNA

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 07:15 authored by Gwenaël Piganeau, Michael Gardner, Adam Eyre-WalkerAdam Eyre-Walker
Recombination in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) remains a controversial topic. Here we present a survey of 279 animal mtDNA data sets, of which 12 were from asexual species. Using four separate tests, we show that there is widespread evidence of recombination; for one test as many as 14.2% of the data sets reject a model of clonal inheritance and in several data sets, including primates, the recombinants can be identified visually. We show that none of the tests give significant results for obligate clonal species (apomictic parthogens) and that the sexual species show significantly greater evidence of recombination than asexual species. For some data sets, such as Macaca nemestrina, additional data sets suggest that the recombinants are not artifacts. For others, it cannot be determined whether the recombinants are real or produced by laboratory error. Either way, the results have important implications for how mtDNA is sequenced and used.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Molecular Biology and Evolution

ISSN

0737-4038

Issue

12

Volume

21

Page range

2319-2325

Pages

7.0

Department affiliated with

  • Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC