Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Jun 23;5(3):413-6.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0662. Epub 2009 Mar 4.

Mitochondrial whims: metabolic rate, longevity and the rate of molecular evolution

Nicolas Galtier  1 , Richard W Jobson, Benoît Nabholz, Sylvain Glémin, Pierre U Blier
Affiliations

Mitochondrial whims: metabolic rate, longevity and the rate of molecular evolution

Nicolas Galtier et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

The evolutionary rate of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is highly variable across lineages in animals, and particularly in mammals. This variation has been interpreted as reflecting variations in metabolic rate: mitochondrial respiratory activity would tend to generate mutagenic agents, thus increasing the mutation rate. Here we review recent evidence suggesting that a direct, mechanical effect of species metabolic rate on mtDNA evolutionary rate is unlikely. We suggest that natural selection could act to reduce the (somatic) mtDNA mutation rate in long-lived species, in agreement with the mitochondrial theory of ageing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Major structures, processes and evolutionary forces involved in mitochondrial ageing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Barja G., Herrero A. Oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA is inversely related to maximum life span in the heart and brain of mammals. FASEB J. 2000;14:312–318. - PubMed
    1. Bromham L., Penny D. The modern molecular clock. Nat. Rev. Genet. 2003;4:216–224. doi:10.1038/nrg1020 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bromham L., Rambaut A., Harvey P.H. Determinants of rate variation in mammalian DNA sequence evolution. J. Mol. Evol. 1996;43:610–621. doi:10.1007/BF02202109 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Galtier N., Enard D., Radondy Y., Bazin E., Belkhir K. Mutation hot spots in mammalian mitochondrial DNA. Genome Res. 2006;16:215–222. doi:10.1101/gr.4305906 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gillooly J.F., Allen A.P., West G.B., Brown J.H. The rate of DNA evolution: effects of body size and temperature on the molecular clock. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA. 2005;102:140–145. doi:10.1073/pnas.0407735101 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances