Codon evolution in double-stranded organelle DNA: strong regulation of homonucleotides and their analog alternations

Abstract

In our previous study, complete single DNA strands which were obtained from nuclei, chloroplasts and plant mitochondria obeyed Chargaff’s second parity rule, although those which were obtained from animal mitochondria deviated from the rule. On the other hand, plant mitochondria obeyed another different rule after their classification. Complete single DNA strand sequences obtained from chloroplasts, plant mitochondria, and animal mitochondria, were divided into the coding and non-coding regions. The non-coding region, which was the complementary coding region on the reverse strand, was incorporated as a coding region in the forward strand. When the nucleotide contents of the coding region or non-coding regions were plotted against the composition of the four nucleotides in the complete single DNA strand, it was determined that chloroplast and plant mitochondrial DNA obeyed Chargaff’s second parity rule in both the coding and non-coding regions. However, animal mitochondrial DNA deviated from this rule. In chloroplast and plant mitochondrial DNA, which obey Chargaff’s second parity rule, the lines of regression for G (purine) and C (pyrimidine) intersected with regression lines for A (purine) and T (pyrimidines), respectively, at around 0.250 in all cases. On the other hand, in animal mitochondrial DNA, which deviates from Chargaff’s second parity rule, only regression lines due to the content of homonucleotides or their analogs in the coding or non-coding region against those in the complete single DNA strand intersected at around 0.250 at the horizontal axis. Conversely, the intersection of the two lines of regression (G and A or C and T) against the contents of heteronucleotides or their analogs shifted from 0.25 in both coding and non-coding regions. Nucleotide alternations in chloroplasts and plant mitochondria are strictly regulated, not only by the proportion of homonucleotides and their analogs, but also by the heteronucleotides and their analogs. They are strictly regulated in animal mitochondria only by the content of homonucleotides and their analogs.