Precise annotation of Drosophila mitochondrial genomes leads to insights into AT-rich regions

Mitochondrion. 2022 Jul:65:145-149. doi: 10.1016/j.mito.2022.06.006. Epub 2022 Jun 30.

Abstract

In the present study, we performed precise annotation of Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, D. grimshawi, Bactrocera oleae mitochondrial (mt) genomes using pan RNA-seq analysis. Using PacBio cDNA-seq data from D. simulans, we precisely annotated the Transcription Initiation Sites (TISs) of the mt Heavy and Light strands in Drosophila mt genomes and reported that the polyA(+) and polyA(-) motifs in the CRs are associated with TISs. The discovery of the conserved polyA(+) and polyA(-) motifs provides insights into many polyA and polyT sequences in CRs of insect mt genomes, leading to reveal the mt transcription and its regulation in invertebrates. Notably, we propose that: (1) polyA/polyT motifs in CRs function as signals to initiate mtDNA transcription; (2) the duplication, recombination or mutation of these polyA/polyT sequences formed the AT-rich regions during evolution; and (3) since CRs of many invertebrate species still contain many polyA/polyT sequences, there is a high probability that several TISs and TTSs exist in invertebrate mt genomes.

Keywords: Control region; Pan RNA-seq; TIS; TTS; Uninterrupted transcription.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
  • Drosophila / genetics
  • Drosophila melanogaster / genetics
  • Genome, Insect
  • Genome, Mitochondrial*

Substances

  • DNA, Mitochondrial