Gene order for a segment of the mitochondrial genome of the greenshell mussel, Perna canaliculus (Bivalvia : Mytilidae)

摘要

The gene order of mitochondrial genomes has been reported to differ among distantly related taxa, but to be more or less conserved among closer relatives. The two assumptions made when using mitochondrial gene organization to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among taxa are that mitochondrial gene rearrangements are rare and that a shared organization reflects a common ancestry. Although mitochondrial gene order has been reported to have arisen independently in four bird lineages, convergent rearrangements in independent lineages are assumed to be highly unlikely, and mitochondrial genome organization appears to be an informative character to determine relationships among phyla or classes. Here, we compare the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene organization of the endemic New Zealand greenshell mussel, Perna canaliculus (Gmelin, 1791) to those of other invertebrate species because mitochondrial gene order may prove a useful tool to reconstruct the phylogeny among New Zealand mytilid bivalves, e.g. Aulacomya maoriana, Mytilus galloprovincialis, and P. canaliculus.