Evolutionary analysis of mitogenomes from parasitic and free-living flatworms

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 20;10(3):e0120081. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120081. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are useful and relatively accessible sources of molecular data to explore and understand the evolutionary history and relationships of eukaryotic organisms across diverse taxonomic levels. The availability of complete mitogenomes from Platyhelminthes is limited; of the 40 or so published most are from parasitic flatworms (Neodermata). Here, we present the mitogenomes of two free-living flatworms (Tricladida): the complete genome of the freshwater species Crenobia alpina (Planariidae) and a nearly complete genome of the land planarian Obama sp. (Geoplanidae). Moreover, we have reanotated the published mitogenome of the species Dugesia japonica (Dugesiidae). This contribution almost doubles the total number of mtDNAs published for Tricladida, a species-rich group including model organisms and economically important invasive species. We took the opportunity to conduct comparative mitogenomic analyses between available free-living and selected parasitic flatworms in order to gain insights into the putative effect of life cycle on nucleotide composition through mutation and natural selection. Unexpectedly, we did not find any molecular hallmark of a selective relaxation in mitogenomes of parasitic flatworms; on the contrary, three out of the four studied free-living triclad mitogenomes exhibit higher A+T content and selective relaxation levels. Additionally, we provide new and valuable molecular data to develop markers for future phylogenetic studies on planariids and geoplanids.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • GC Rich Sequence
  • Genome, Helminth*
  • Genome, Mitochondrial*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Phylogeny
  • Platyhelminths / classification
  • Platyhelminths / genetics*
  • Platyhelminths / pathogenicity
  • Selection, Genetic
  • Virulence / genetics

Associated data

  • GENBANK/KP208776
  • GENBANK/KP208777

Grants and funding

Funding was received from Ministerio de Economía y competitividad (Spain): CGL 2008-00378 MR, CGL 2011-23466 MR, CGL2013-45211-C2-1-P (http://www.idi.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/MICINN/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.