Presence of two mitochondrial genomes in the mytilid Perumytilus purpuratus: Phylogenetic evidence for doubly uniparental inheritance

Abstract

This study presents evidence, using sequences of ribosomal 16S and COI mtDNA, for the presence of two mitochondrial genomes in Perumytilus purpuratus. This may be considered evidence of doubly uniparental mtDNA inheritance. The presence of the two types of mitochondrial genomes differentiates females from males. The F genome was found in the somatic and gonadal tissues of females and in the somatic tissues of males; the M genome was found in the gonads and mantle of males only. For the mitochondrial 16S region, ten haplotypes were found for the F genome (nucleotide diversity 0.004), and 7 haplotypes for the M genome (nucleotide diversity 0.001), with a distance Dxy of 0.125 and divergence Kxy of 60.33%. For the COI gene 17 haplotypes were found for the F genome (nucleotide diversity 0.009), and 10 haplotypes for the M genome (nucleotide diversity 0.010), with a genetic distance Dxy of 0.184 and divergence Kxy of 99.97%. Our results report the presence of two well-differentiated, sex-specific types of mitochondrial genome (one present in the male gonad, the other in the female gonad), implying the presence of DUI in P. purpuratus. These results indicate that care must be taken in phylogenetic comparisons using mtDNA sequences of P. purpuratus without considering the sex of the individuals.

Gender-Associated Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy in Somatic Tissues of the Endangered Freshwater MusselUnio crassus(Bivalvia: Unionidae): Implications for Sex Identification and Phylogeographical Studies

“…The reverse variability pattern of gender‐associated mtDNA has been observed, for example, in Musculista senhousia (Passamonti, ; cob , coxI , and rrnL mitochondrial genes). Similar observation has also been done for other mytilid species, Perumytilus purpuratus , for which analyses based on 16S region of mtDNA revealed greater variability in F‐type than in M‐type mtDNA (Vargas et al., ). However, Ghiselli et al.…”

“…The reverse variability pattern of gender-associated mtDNA has been observed, for example, in Musculista senhousia (Passamonti, 2007 ;cob, coxI, and rrnL mitochondrial genes). Similar observation has also been done for other mytilid species, Perumytilus purpuratus, for which analyses based on 16S region of mtDNA revealed greater variability in F-type than in M-type mtDNA (Vargas et al, 2015). However, Ghiselli et al (2013) using non-PCR based techniques found that the amount of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) in R. philippinarum is very similar between F-and M-type mitogenomes, discussing the influence of the population dynamics of F-and M mtDNA during development on the amount and kind of polymorphism of the two genomes.…”

Scorched mussels (Brachidontes spp., Bivalvia: Mytilidae) from the tropical and warm‐temperate southwestern Atlantic: the role of the Amazon River in their speciation

“…This phenomenon has been found in some brachidontes ( B. exustus species complex, Lee and Ó Foighil ; P. purpuratus Vargas et al. ), but not in others (Terranova et al. ).…”

Pursuing the quest for better understanding the taxonomic distribution of the system of doubly uniparental inheritance of mtDNA

“…S1 and S2). As mentioned earlier, the strategy of searching for sex-biased heteroplasmy of mitochondrial gene sequences as a means for detecting DUI has been successfully employed in other bivalve species (e.g., Boyle & Etter, 2013; Vargas et al, 2015; Dégletagne, Abele & Held, 2016). DUI can also be detected by in vivo localization of male mitochondria in embryos: an aggregate pattern of M-type mitochondria only into the male germline during early embryonic stages is typical of DUI species (Cao, Kenchington & Zouros, 2004; Obata & Komaru, 2005; Cogswell, Kenchington & Zouros, 2006; Milani, Ghiselli & Passamonti, 2012).…”

“…Such an approach has already been successfully implemented in several previous DUI studies (e.g., Passamonti & Scali, 2001; Theologidis et al, 2008; Boyle & Etter, 2013; Plazzi, Cassano & Passamonti, 2015; Plazzi, 2015; Vargas et al, 2015; Dégletagne, Abele & Held, 2016). In the present study, we use this approach to test for the presence of DUI in two bivalve species, i.e., the nuculanoid Yoldia hyperborea (Gould, 1841) and the veneroid Scrobicularia plana (Da Costa, 1778), and we observe sex-linked heteroplasmy (thus the possible presence of DUI) in both of them, increasing the number of families in which DUI has been found by two.…”