Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on May 13, 2008
Journal of Heredity 2008 99(4):432-437; doi:10.1093/jhered/esn024
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Brief Communications |
The Organization of the Mitochondrial Control Region in 2 Brachyuran Crustaceans: Ucides cordatus (Ocypodidae) and Cardisoma guanhumi (Gecarcinidae)
From the Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 19073, Curitiba, PR 81531-990, Brazil (Pie, Oliveira-Neto, Boeger, and Baggio); the Grupo Integrado de Aqüicultura e Estudos Ambientais, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil (Pie, Oliveira-Neto, Boeger, Baggio, and Ostrensky); and the Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil (Ostrensky)
Address correspondence to M. R. Pie at the address above, or e-mail: pie{at}ufpr.br.
The control region (CR) is the largest noncoding segment of the mitochondrial DNA and includes the major regulatory elements for its replication and expression. In addition, the high level of intraspecific genetic variability found in the CR favors its use in phylogeographical and population genetic studies of a variety of organisms. However, most of the work on the structure of the CR has focused on vertebrates and insects, and little is known about the evolution of the CR in other taxa. In this study, we sequenced the entire CR of several individuals of 2 crab species: Ucides cordatus (Ocypodidae) and Cardisoma guanhumi (Gecarcinidae). There were neither large conserved regions in the CR of either species nor any similarity among species at the nucleotide level. However, the spatial pattern of genetic variability on the CR was similar among species. In addition, interesting similarities were found in the formation of stable secondary structures and in the position of regulatory elements. These results indicate that the evolution of CR in crustaceans is a remarkably dynamic process, with most homology among species being found at the secondary level.
Corresponding Editor: Steve Karl
Received May 25, 2007
Accepted March 10, 2008