He Tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, is a unique reptile found in New Zealand. A new research suggests that the species has two mitochondrial genomes.
Tuatara are the only species of the order Sphenodontia that has survived to the present day, virtually unchanged since the Mesozoic Era. The meaning of its common name comes from Maori and means "spiny back."
Tuatara
All animals have nuclear DNA found in the nucleus of the cell and mitochondrial DNA, located in the so-called cellular 'power plant', the mitochondria. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or mitochondrial genome, therefore, is genetic material from the mitochondria, the elements of the cell that generate energy for it.
However, after analyzing existing tuatara DNA sequences and comparing them with DNA from other reptiles, they soon realized that the genome was not as incomplete as scientists initially thought. Actually, there were too many mysterious sequences and leftover DNA in the reptile's mitochondrial genome.
After an exhaustive study, thanks to new data from the entire sequenced genome, they identified a second complete mitochondrial genome that is a 10 % different from the 'typical' tuatara mitochondrial genome.
Although the discovery of a second mitochondrial genome was only confirmed in a single sample, its presence is still surprising. If scientists discover that double mitochondrial genomes are common in tuatara, they could use these multiple genomes to find out when each genome appeared and when it separated from the other. The research could help zoologists understand what exactly makes the species so genetically different from all other reptiles.
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The news
This vertebrate is different from all of them: it seems to have two different mitochondrial genomes
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.