Mitogenomics: digging deeper with complete mitochondrial genomes

Abstract

Mitochondrial genomes are being used to study increasingly ancient divergences among animal groups. Recent studies of complete mitochondrial DNA sequences have arrived at somewhat heretical conclusions, raising questions about the use of mitochondrial gene sequences for studying the relationships among highly divergent lineages. Other studies have documented convergent evolution of mitochondrial gene order, casting doubt on the use of these characters for phylogenetic analysis. The use of mitochondrial genomes for studying such deep divergences is coming under increased scrutiny, and these novel results need to be confirmed with data from nuclear genes.