The deep sea is one of the most extensive ecosystems on earth Organisms living there survive in an extremely harsh environment, and their mitochondrial energy metabolism might be a result of evolution As one of the most important organelles, mitochondria generate energy through energy metabolism and play an important role in almost all biological activities In this study, the mitogenome of a deep-sea sea anemone (Bolocera sp) was sequenced and characterized Like other metazoans, it contained 13 energy pathway protein-coding genes and two ribosomal RNAs However, it also exhibited some unique features: just two transfer RNA genes, two group I introns, two transposon-like noncanonical open reading frames (ORFs), and a control region-like (CR-like) element All of the mitochondrial genes were coded by the same strand (the H-strand) The genetic order and orientation were identical to those of most sequenced actiniarians Phylogenetic analyses showed that this species was closely related to Bolocera tuediae Positive selection analysis showed that three residues (31 L and 42 N in ATP6, 570 S in ND5) of Bolocera sp were positively selected sites By comparing these features with those of shallow sea anemone species, we deduced that these novel gene features may influence the activity of mitochondrial genes This study may provide some clues regarding the adaptation of Bolocera sp to the deep-sea environment

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.3067

The mitochondrial genome of a sea anemone Bolocera sp. exhibits novel genetic structures potentially involved in adaptation to the deep‐sea environment

The complete mitochondrial genome of Budorcas taxicolor tibetana (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) and comparison with other Caprinae species: Insight into the phylogeny of the genus Budorcas.

Tibetan sheep, a Chinese indigenous breed, are mainly distributed in plateau and mountain-valley areas at a terrestrial elevation between 2260 and 4100 m. The herd is genetically distinct from the ...

Detecting signatures of selection within the Tibetan sheep mitochondrial genome.

The Xizang Plateau frog (Nanorana parkeri) belongs to the family Dicroglossidae, which distributes in southern and eastern Xizang, southern-most Qinghai in China, high elevations of north-central Nepal, Himalayan Bhutan, northeastern Kashmir and India. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of N. parkeri was sequenced. The mitogenome was 17,837 bp in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a non-coding control region (CR). As in other vertebrates, most mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand, except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes, which are encoded on the light strand. The overall base composition of the N. parkeri is A: 27.7 % A, T: 30.1 % T, C: 26.6% and G: 15.6%. The alignment of the Nanorana species CRs exhibited high genetic variability and rich A + T content. In comparison with the mtDNA sequences typical of vertebrates, a tandem duplication of the tRNAMet gene and a rearrangement of the tRNAThr, tRNAPro an...

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Xizang Plateau frog, Nanorana parkeri (Anura: Dicroglossidae).

Microbiota of the wild blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) presents a seasonal variation due to different dietary selection and feeding strategies from different ecological niches chosen by different sex in summer To address those issues, we analyzed the variation of gut microbiota based on the material from the feces, with 16S rRNA and meta-genome aimed to explore seasonal and gender differences The results indicate that seasonal dietary changes and gender differentiation, as expected, cause the variation in sheep's gut microbiota structure The variation of the former is more significant than the latter Dominant Firmicutes exists a significantly higher abundance in summer than that in winter Subordinate Bacteroides expresses no seasonal difference between the two seasons Compared with the winter group, the summer group is featured by abundant enzymes digesting cellulose and generating short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as beta-glucosidase (EC: 32121) for cellulose digestion, and butyrate kinase (EC:2727) in butyrate metabolism, implying that the changes of the composition in intestinal flora allow the sheep to adapt to the seasonalized dietary selection through alternated microbial functions to reach the goal of facilitating the efficiency of energy harvesting The results also show that the blue sheep expresses a prominent sexual dimorphism in the components of gut microbiota, indicating that the two sexes have different adaptations to the dietary selection, and demands for physical and psychological purposes Thus, this study provides an example of demonstrating the principles and regulations of natural selection and environmental adaptation

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Seasonal Variation and Sexual Dimorphism of the Microbiota in Wild Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur).

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence analysis of Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni): Implications of Tibetan argali and Gansu argali as the same subspecies

Pseudois nayaur is a major component of Caprini and a keystone species in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecosystems. Due to the excessive hunting and habitat loss, its numbers are being reduced drastically. We developed and characterized the first set of microsatellite markers in this species to investigate its population genetic diversity and structure. Nine polymorphic loci displayed an average of 5.73 alleles (range between 2 and 14) and the levels of expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.422 to 0.816. Cross-amplification within dwarf blue sheep was successful for the nine loci. The loci characterized here will be useful for detecting fine-scale spatial structuring and resolving the taxonomic status of divergent Pseudois populations.

Min Yang

Papers

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence analysis of Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni): Implications of Tibetan argali and Gansu argali as the same subspecies

Development and characterization of nine polymorphic microsatellite markers for the blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur)