Comparative mitochondrial genomics within and among yeast species of the Lachancea genus

Yeasts are leading model organisms for mitochondrial genome studies. The explosion of complete sequence of yeast mitochondrial (mt) genomes revealed a wide diversity of organization and structure between species. Recently, genome-wide polymorphism survey on the mt genome of isolates of a single species, Lachancea kluyveri, was also performed. To compare the mitochondrial genome evolution at two hierarchical levels: within and among closely related species, we focused on five species of the Lachancea genus, which are close relatives of L. kluyveri. Hence, we sequenced the complete mt genome of L. dasiensis, L. nothofagi, L. mirantina, L. fantastica and L. meyersii. The phylogeny of the Lachancea genus was explored using these data. Analysis of intra- and interspecific variability across the whole Lachancea genus led to the same conclusions regarding the mitochondrial genome evolution. These genomes exhibit a similar architecture and are completely syntenic. Nevertheless, genome sizes vary considerably because of the variations of the intergenic regions and the intron content, contributing to mitochondrial genome plasticity. The high variability of the intergenic regions stands in contrast to the high level of similarity of protein sequences. Quantification of the selective constraints clearly revealed that most of the mitochondrial genes are under purifying selection in the whole genus.