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Mitochondrial Molecular Adaptations and Life History Strategies Coevolve in Plants
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- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- Document Type:
- Manuscript
- Date:
- Received 28 May 2008 09:41 UTC; Posted 29 May 2008
- Subjects:
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Bioinformatics, Earth and Environment
- Abstract:
Messenger RNA secondary structure prevents mutations at functionally important sites. Mutations at exposed sites would cause micro-adaptations, niche-specialization, and therefore, can be thought to promote K-strategists. Exposing, rather than protecting, conserved sites, is also potentially adaptive because they probably promote macro-adaptive changes. This presumably fits r-strategists: their population dynamics tolerate decreased survival. We found that helix-forming tendencies are greater at evolutionary conserved sites of plant mitochondrial mRNAs than at evolutionary variable sites in a majority (73%) of species–gene combinations. K-strategists preferentially protect conserved sites in short genes, r-strategists protect them most in larger genes. This adaptive scenario resembles our earlier findings in chloroplast genes. Protection levels at various codon positions also display disparity with respect to life history strategies of the plants. Conserved site protection increases overall mRNA folding stabilities for some genes, while decreases it for some others. This contrast exists between homologous genes of r- and K- strategists. Such compensating interactions between variability, mRNA size, codon position, and secondary structure factors within r- and K-strategists are most likely, molecular adaptations of plants belonging to the two extreme life history strategies. Our results suggest coevolution between molecular and ecological adaptive strategies.
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- This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
- How to cite this document:
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Krishnan, Neeraja and Rao, Basuthkar. Mitochondrial Molecular Adaptations and Life History Strategies Coevolve in Plants. Available from Nature Precedings <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.1922.1> (2008)
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