Extensive gene rearrangements in the chloroplast DNAs of Chlamydomonas species featuring multiple dispersed repeats

Molecular Biology and Evolution
E Boudreau, Monique Turmel

Abstract

We have constructed a physical and gene map for the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas gelatinosa, a close relative of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. At 285 kb, the C. gelatinosa cpDNA is 89 kb larger than its C. reinhardtii counterpart. The alterations in the order of 77 genes on the cpDNAs of these green algae are attributable to nine inversions and one event of expansion/contraction of the inverted repeat. These rearrangements are much more extensive than those previously reported between the cpDNAs of the closely related Chlamydomonas moewusii and Chlamydomonas pitschmannii. Because the divergence level of the C. gelatinosa and C. reinhardtii chloroplast-encoded large subunit rRNA gene sequences is equivalent to that of the corresponding C. moewusii and C. pitschmannii sequences, our results may suggest that, in the same period of time, there have been more numerous rearrangements in the lineage comprising C. gelatinosa and C. reinhardtii than in the lineage comprising C. moewusii and C. pitschmannii. Alternatively, given that substitution rates in chloroplast genes are not necessarily uniform across lineages, the extensive rearrangements between the C. gelatinosa and C. reinhardtii cpDNAs may r...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 1, 1997·Journal of Molecular Evolution·A W Coleman, J C Mai
Feb 4, 2010·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Adrian C BarbrookSarah J Tarr
Feb 14, 2006·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Liying CuiClaude W dePamphilis
Jun 5, 2012·Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution·Molly R Letsch, Louise A Lewis
Nov 27, 2007·The Plant Journal : for Cell and Molecular Biology·Obed W OdomDavid L Herrin

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