Additional Files: Mitochondrial RNA processing in absence of tRNA punctuations in octocorals

Citation: Shimpi, Gaurav and Vargas, Sergio and Poliseno, Angelo and Wörheide, Gert: Additional Files: Mitochondrial RNA processing in absence of tRNA punctuations in octocorals. 23. January 2017. Open Data LMU. 10.5282/ubm/data.101

Abstract

Background: Mitogenome diversity is staggering among early branching animals with respect to size, gene density and content, gene orders, and number of tRNA genes, especially in cnidarians. This last point is of special interest as tRNA cleavage drives the maturation of mitochondrial mRNAs and is a primary mechanism for mt-RNA processing in animals. Mitochondrial RNA processing in non-bilaterian metazoans, some of which possess a single tRNA gene in their mitogenomes, is essentially unstudied despite its importance in understanding the evolution of mitochondrial transcription in animals. Results: We characterized the mature mitochondrial mRNA transcripts in a species of the octocoral genus Sinularia (Alcyoniidae: Octocorallia), and defined precise boundaries of transcription units using different molecular methods. Most mt-mRNAs were polycistronic units containing two or three genes and 5' and/or 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of varied length. The octocoral specific, mtDNA-encoded mismatch repair gene, mtMutS, was found to undergo alternative polyadenylation (APA), and exhibited differential expression of alternate transcripts suggesting a unique regulatory mechanism for this gene. In addition, a long noncoding RNA complementary to the ATP6 gene (lncATP6) potentially involved in antisense regulation was detected. Conclusions: Mt-mRNA processing in octocorals bearing a single mt-tRNA is complex. Considering the variety of mitogenome arrangements known in cnidarians, and in general among non-bilaterian metazoans, our findings provide a first glimpse into the complex mtDNA transcription, mt-mRNA processing, and regulation among early branching animals and represents a first step towards understanding its functional and evolutionary implications.

Keywords

Mitochondrial RNA, Polycistronic transcripts, Alternative polyadenylation (APA), Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), Mitogenome, Cnidaria, Octocorals, tRNA punctuation, Non-bilaterian

• Item Type: Other
• Contact Person: Shimpi, Gaurav and Wörheide, Gert
• E-Mail of Contact: woerheide at lmu.de
• Subjects: Faculty of Geosciences
• Dewey Decimal Classification: 600 Natural sciences and mathematics > 570 Life sciences; 600 Natural sciences and mathematics > 590 Zoological sciences