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Coordinated Evolutionary Rates in Oxidative Phosphorylation Complexes of Papilionoid Legumes: Cytonuclear Coevolution
Lydia G Tressel1, Justin C Havird1, In-Su Choi2
1Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|June 5, 2026
Summary
Plant mitochondrial and nuclear genomes coordinate cellular functions through coevolution. This study reveals accelerated evolution in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation genes within a specific legume clade, driven by relaxed selection.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics
- Plant Science
Background:
- Mitochondrial (mt) and nuclear genomes coordinate gene expression for cellular functions across eukaryotes.
- Mitonuclear coevolution is well-studied in animals but less understood in plants, despite their importance.
- Plants require coordinated mitochondrial and nuclear gene products for oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate evolutionary rate covariation (ERC) between mt- and nuclear-encoded OXPHOS genes in papilionoid legumes.
- To identify signatures of mitonuclear coevolution and understand its impact on plant genome evolution.
- To compare findings with plastid-nuclear coevolution and explore underlying molecular evolution mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed evolutionary rates (dN, dS) for mt-encoded OXPHOS, nuclear-encoded mitochondrial-targeted (N-mt) OXPHOS, and control nuclear gene sets across 50 legume species.
- Focused on the 50-kb inversion clade within papilionoid legumes, known for plastid DNA inversion.
- Estimated nonsynonymous (dN) and synonymous (dS) substitution rates to infer selection pressures.
Main Results:
- Both mt and N-mt OXPHOS genes showed significantly elevated dN and dS rates in the 50-kb inversion clade, indicating accelerated mitochondrial evolution.
- Elevated dN/dS ratios in this clade were attributed to relaxed purifying selection, not intensified positive selection.
- ERCs were strongest for OXPHOS complexes and genes with direct mitonuclear physical interactions, supporting mitonuclear coevolution.
Conclusions:
- Mitonuclear coevolutionary dynamics are evident in papilionoid legumes, particularly within the 50-kb inversion clade.
- Shifts in selective pressures on mitochondrial processes can influence nuclear gene evolution, impacting overall plant genome dynamics.
- Dual-targeted nuclear genes involved in organelle DNA repair may play a role in the molecular evolution patterns of both mitochondria and plastids.
Keywords:
Cytonuclear coevolutionEvolutionary rate covariationFabaceaeMitochondriaMultisubunit complexOxidative PhosphorylationPapilionoideaeSubstitution ratesMore Related Videos
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