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Complete mtDNA of Ciona intestinalis Reveals Extensive Gene Rearrangement and the Presence of an atp8 and an Extra trnM Gene in Ascidians

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Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) of the model organism Ciona intestinalis (Urochordata, Ascidiacea) has been amplified by long-PCR using specific primers designed on putative mitochondrial transcripts identified from publicly available mitochondrial-like expressed sequence tags. The C. intestinalis mtDNA encodes 39 genes: 2 rRNAs, 13 subunits of the respiratory complexes, including ATPase subunit 8 (atp8), and 24 tRNAs, including 2 tRNA-Met with anticodons 5′-UAU-3′and 5′-CAU-3′, respectively. All genes are transcribed from the same strand. This gene content seems to be a common feature of ascidian mtDNAs, as we have verified the presence of a previously undetected atp8 and of two trnM genes in the two other sequenced ascidian mtDNAs. Extensive gene rearrangement has been found in C. intestinalis with respect not only to the common Vertebrata/Cephalochordata/Hemichordata gene organization but also to other ascidian mtDNAs, including the cogeneric Ciona savignyi. Other features such as the absence of long noncoding regions, the shortness of rRNA genes, the low GC content (21.4%), and the absence of asymmetric base distribution between the two strands suggest that this genome is more similar to those of some protostomes than to deuterostomes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the “Progetto Giovani Ricercatori” of the University of Milano, FIRB project (Ministero dell’Istruzione e Ricerca Scientifica, Italy), and by Telethon. We thank David Horner, Flavio Mignone, and Cecilia Saccone for valuable comments on the manuscript, Prof. Rosaria De Santis for the gift of some Ciona intestinalis samples and help with ascidian total DNA extraction, and the Department of Biology (University of Milano) for the gift of Ciona intestinalis frozen tissues. We also thank an anonymous referee for helpful comments.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari e Biotecnologie, Università di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy

    Carmela Gissi, Fabio Iannelli & Graziano Pesole

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  1. Carmela Gissi
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Correspondence to Graziano Pesole.

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Gissi, C., Iannelli, F. & Pesole, G. Complete mtDNA of Ciona intestinalis Reveals Extensive Gene Rearrangement and the Presence of an atp8 and an Extra trnM Gene in Ascidians . J Mol Evol 58, 376–389 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-003-2559-6

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