Abstract
The mitochondrial genomes in ctenophores are among the most compact in the animal kingdom with multiple rearrangements and examples of gene loss. Here, by resequencing of the Pleurobrachia bachei mitochondrial genome, we show that the high level of polymorphism (>10%) in Pleurobrachia might contribute to the ongoing fast evolution of ctenophores including the presence of truncated versions of apparently canonical genes such as cox1. Second, the codon interpretations in ctenophores, without robust proteomic data related to mitochondrial genes, is still a challenging issue, which is open for future experimental analyses.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NASA-NNX13AJ31G), and the National Science Foundation (grants 1146575, 1557923, 1548121 and 1645219).