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Comment
. 2013 Apr 15:11:30.
doi: 10.1186/1741-7007-11-30.

Mitochondrial genomes as living 'fossils'

Ian Small  1
Affiliations
Comment

Mitochondrial genomes as living 'fossils'

Ian Small. BMC Biol. .

Abstract

The huge variation between mitochondrial genomes makes untangling their evolutionary histories difficult. Richardson et al. report on the remarkably unaltered 'fossil' genome of the tulip tree, giving us many clues as to how the mitochondrial genomes of flowering plants have evolved over the last 150 million years, and raising questions about how such extraordinary sequence conservation can be maintained.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Tulip trees are a popular feature in parks and gardens. (a) The American tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont. (b) Side view of a flower, the shape of which gives the tree its name. (c) Top view of a flower.
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References

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