The mitochondrial genome of Saprolegnia ferax: organization, gene content and nucleotide sequence

Abstract

The mitochondrial genome of the peronosporomycete water mold Saprolegnia ferax has been characterized as a 46 930 bp circle containing an 8618 bp large inverted repeat (LIR). Eighteen reading frames encode identified subunits of respiratory complexes I, III, IV and V; 16 encode polypeptides of small and large mitoribosome subunits; and one encodes a subunit of the sec-independent protein translocation pathway. Of four additional putative reading frames three are homologues of those found in the related Phytophthora infestans genome. Protein encoding loci in the tightly compacted genome typically are arranged in operon-like clusters including three abutting and two overlapping pairs of reading frames. Translational RNAs include the mitochondrial small and large subunit rRNAs and 25 tRNA species. No tRNAs are encoded to enable translation of any threonine or the arginine CGR codons. The LIR separates the molecule into 19 274 bp large and 10 420 bp small single copy regions, and it encodes intact duplicate copies of four reading frames encoding known proteins, both rRNAs, and five tRNAs. Partial 3′ sequences of three additional reading frames are duplicated at single copy sequence junctions. Active recombination between LIR elements generates two distinctive gene orders and uses the duplicated 3′ sequences to maintain intact copies of the partially duplicated loci.

• mitochondrial genes
• mtDNA
• Oomycetes
• Peronosporomycetes
• stramenopiles

We thank Barbara Ball for assistance with the figures. This study was supported by the Northern Illinois University Plant Molecular Biology Center and NSF grants DEB-9806785 and DEB-0213076.