Witnessing the evolution of transcription in mitochondria: the mitochondrial genome of the primitive brown alga Pylaiella littoralis (L.) Kjellm. encodes a T7-like RNA polymerase
A region of the mitochondrial genome of the primitive brown alga Pylaiella littoralis containing a plasmid-like insert which contains a transcribed T7-phage-type RNA polymerase gene is described. This is a first report of a phage-type RNA polymerase gene integrated in a mitochondrial genome. As the...
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Published in | Journal of molecular biology Vol. 277; no. 5; pp. 1047 - 1057 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Elsevier Ltd
17.04.1998
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | A region of the mitochondrial genome of the primitive brown alga
Pylaiella littoralis containing a plasmid-like insert which contains a transcribed T7-phage-type RNA polymerase gene is described. This is a first report of a phage-type RNA polymerase gene integrated in a mitochondrial genome. As the mitochondrial genome of this alga also contains σ-70 proteobacterial promoter regions, i.e. traces of the ancestral α
2ββ′σ-70 proteobacterial RNA polymerase, this genome witnesses two types of RNA polymerases. As such the mitochondrial genome of
P. littoralis represents a unique stage in the evolution of transcription in mitochondria, which contrasts with that of the primitive protist
Reclinomonas americana, which still retains the ancestral α
2ββ′σ-70 proteobacterial RNA polymerase genes, and with animals, land plants and fungi, which use phage-type polymerases. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0022-2836 1089-8638 |
DOI: | 10.1006/jmbi.1998.1679 |