Meeting Abstract

6.2  Monday, Jan. 4  Mitochondrial genome rearrangements in animals: An update with perspectives on computational tractability PETT, Walker*; KAYAL, Ehsan; LAVROV, Dennis; Iowa State University willpett@iastate.edu

Animal mitochondrial genomes are typically small circular molecules, in the range of 15 – 20kb, with an almost invariant set of 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs and 2 ribosomal RNAs. It compactness of size and economy of content has made it an attractive model for whole genome evolution. In particular, evolutionary patterns in the rearrangement of this highly conserved suite of genes can be especially difficult to equivocate, as the astronomical number of possible arrangements makes it unlikely for common arrangements to arise by convergent evolution. In the last decade, the rate at which complete animal mitochondrial genomes are being published has increased by more than 7 times, with at least 1746 available to date. The comparison of animal mitochondrial genome arrangements has proven itself as a valid technique for phylogenetic inference, lending strong support to numerous relationships among a wide variety of animal groups, and has in many cases challenged the conventional wisdom regarding the mechanisms of mitochondrial rearrangement and recombination. At the same time, a burgeoning field of computational biology has been developing more efficient and useful methods for reconstructing phylogenies using genome arrangement data, which are both of interest from an evolutionary point of view, and as mathematical problems in their own right. In this review, we will briefly summarize the patterns of mitochondrial genome rearrangements within Metazoa and address the computational problems associated with gene order data and their utility in resolving relationships deep within the animal tree of life.