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MBE Advance Access published online on April 2, 2007
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msm068
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Article

Analysis of Nuclear Copies of Mitochondrial Sequences in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Genome

Susanta K. Behura

Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

E-mail: sbehura{at}purdue.edu, Fax: 765-494-7897, Phone: 765-409-5036

Received for publication February 21, 2007. Revision received March 26, 2007. Accepted for publication March 27, 2007.

At least 0.08% of the Apis mellifera nuclear genome contains sequences that originated from mitochondria. These nuclear copies of mitochondrial sequences (numts) are scattered all over the honey bee chromosomes, and have originated by multiple independent insertions of mitochondrial DNA as evident by phylogenetic analysis. Apart from original insertions, moderate duplications of numt sequences also contributed to the present pattern and distribution of mitochondrial sequences in honey bee chromosomes. Assimilation of mitochondrial genes in the nuclear genome is mediated by extensive fragmentations of the original inserts. Replication slippage seems to be a major mechanism by which small sequences are inserted or deleted from mitochondrial DNA destined to nucleus. Most of the honey bee numts (84%) are located in the non-genic regions. The majority (94%) of the numts those are located in predicted nuclear genes have originated from mitochondrial genes coding for cytochrome oxidase and NADH dehydrogenase subunits. On the other hand, the mitochondrial rRNA or tRNA gene sequences are predominantly (88%) located in non-genic regions of the genome. Evidences also support for exertion of purifying selection on numts located in specific genes. Comparative analysis of numts of European, African and Africanized honey bees suggests that numt evolution in Apis mellifera is probably not demarked by speciation time frame; but may be a continuous and dynamic process.

Key Words: Apis mellifera • numt • mitochondrial • insertion • duplication • molecular marker


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