title: Sequencing and comparison of the mitochondrial COI gene from isolates of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi belonging to Gigasporaceae and Glomeraceae families.
abstract: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are well known for their ecological importance and their positive influence on plants. The genetics and phylogeny of this group of fungi have long been debated. Nuclear markers are the main tools used for phylogenetic analyses, but they have sometimes proved difficult to use because of their extreme variability. Therefore, the attention of researchers has been moving towards other genomic markers, in particular those from the mitochondrial DNA. In this study, 46 sequences of different AMF isolates belonging to two main clades Gigasporaceae and Glomeraceae have been obtained from the mitochondrial gene coding for the Cytochrome c Oxidase I (COI), representing the largest dataset to date of AMF COI sequences. A very low level of divergence was recorded in the COI sequences from the Gigasporaceae, which could reflect either a slow rate of evolution or a more recent evolutionary divergence of this group. On the other hand, the COI sequence divergence between Gigasporaceae and Glomeraceae was high, with synonymous divergence reaching saturated levels. This work also showed the difficulty in developing valuable mitochondrial markers able to effectively distinguish all Glomeromycota species, especially those belonging to Gigasporaceae, yet it represents a first step towards the development of a full mtDNA-based dataset which can be used for further phylogenetic investigations of this fungal phylum.
authors.affiliation: Plant Protection Institute (IPP)-Turin UOS, National Research Council (CNR), c/o Department of Life Science and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale P.A. Mattioli 25, Turin 10125, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borriello
authors.affiliation: Plant Protection Institute (IPP)-Turin UOS, National Research Council (CNR), c/o Department of Life Science and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale P.A. Mattioli 25, Turin 10125, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bianciotto
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via E. Fermi, 2749, Ispra, VA I-21027, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orgiazzi
authors.affiliation: Plant Protection Institute (IPP)-Turin UOS, National Research Council (CNR), c/o Department of Life Science and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale P.A. Mattioli 25, Turin 10125, Italy. Electronic address: erica.lumini@ipp.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lumini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Ashworth Laboratories, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: r.bergero@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bergero
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D017931:DNA Primers; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics*; D055137:Glomeromycota / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
keywords: COI; Divergence; Glomeromycota; Marker gene; Mitochondrial DNA; Polymorphisms