Abundant Recurrent Mitochondrial Mutations and Widespread Mitonuclear Epistasis in Caenorhabditis elegans

Coordinated genetic and physical interactions between mitochondrial and nuclear gene products regulate ATP production in the mitochondria. Linking mitochondrial genotypes and mitonuclear genetic interactions to phenotypes remains a complex challenge. Here, we have developed Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for mitonuclear epistasis studies. In a sample of 540 genetically distinct wild isolates, 10% of sites in the mitochondrial genome vary, with hundreds of missense mutations segregating in the species. Recurrent mutations and triallelic sites are common. Phylogenetic analyses of mitogenome sequences identified 8 distinct lineages, each with diagnostic variants. Principal component analysis of the nuclear genomes showed considerable concordance between mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in C. elegans populations, suggesting that disrupting coevolved mitonuclear genetic combinations could reveal substantial epistasis. We used GPR-1 overexpression, which disrupts the first mitotic division, to efficiently exchange nuclear and mitochondrial genomes between all pairs of 18 naturally isolated C. elegans strains, generating the largest-to-date animal mitonuclear exchange panel, with 323 unique viable mitonuclear genotypes. We phenotyped development of a subset of strains, with 30 unique genotypes, under 6 different environmental conditions, including high temperature and exposure to heavy metals. Mitonuclear epistasis contributed significantly to phenotypic variance across all tested conditions. We also tested for mitonuclear coadaptation by comparing the stress resistance of matched and mismatched cybrids. Interestingly, some mismatched strains exhibited greater resistance, highlighting the complexity and context dependence of mitonuclear interactions.