title: Evidence for recombination in scorpion mitochondrial DNA (Scorpiones: Buthidae).
abstract: There has been very little undisputed evidence for recombination in animal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) provided so far. Previous unpublished results suggestive of mtDNA recombination in the scorpion family Buthidae, together with cytological evidence for a unique mechanism of mitochondrial fusion in that family, prompted us to investigate this group in more details. First, we sequenced the complete mtDNA genome of Mesobuthus gibbosus, and chose two genes opposing each other (16S and coxI). We then sequenced 150 individuals from the natural populations of four species of Buthidae (Old World genera Buthus and Mesobuthus). We observed strong evidence for widespread recombination through highly significant negative correlations between linkage disequilibrium and physical distance in three out of four species. The evidence is further confirmed when using five other tests for recombination and by the presence of a high amount of homoplasy in phylogenetic trees.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK. b.gantenbein@mac.com
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gantenbein
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fet
authors.forename: Iris A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Gantenbein-Ritter
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Balloux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003710:Demography; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012605:Scorpions / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial