ArticleGenome biology2021
The economics of organellar gene loss and endosymbiotic gene transfer.
Article in Genome biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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35 citing papers in PubMed.
- Rapid plastid isolation reveals the chloroplast proteome and structures of the chlororibosome large subunit and RuBisCO inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Functional divergence and structural changes of Class IV histone deacetylases (HDACs) across the tree of life.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Structure determination and dual targeting of a plant TACO1 identifies its ancient role as an organelle translation regulator.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Plastid genes in motion: mechanisms and physiological implications of endosymbiotic gene transfer.Journal of experimental botany · 2026Article
- Comprehensive Analysis of the Complete Mitochondrial Genomes ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Small but mighty: mitochondrial DNA at the centre of retrograde signalling.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Convergent extreme reductive evolution in ancient planthopper symbioses.Nature communications · 2026Article
- From Rigid Order to Radical Variation: Mitogenome Evolution in the Main Lineages of a Lesser-Known Animal Phylum (Gastrotricha).Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Splicing regulation and intron evolution in the short-intron ciliate model of endosymbiosis Paramecium bursaria.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Complete chloroplast genome of Ecklonia maxima and comparative analysis with related species.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Suppression of plastid-to-nucleus gene transfer by DNA double-strand break repair.Nature plants · 2025Article
- Article
- Structural diversity and phylogenomic insights from the mitochondrial genomes of twoFrontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Widespread adaptive evolution in angiosperm photosystems provides insight into the evolution of photosystem II repair.The Plant cell · 2024Article
- Reduced plastid genomes of colorless facultative pathogens Prototheca (Chlorophyta) are retained for membrane transport genes.BMC biology · 2024Article
- Extensive import of nucleus-encoded tRNAs into chloroplasts of the photosynthetic lycophyte,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Reliability of plastid and mitochondrial localisation prediction declines rapidly with the evolutionary distance to the training set increasing.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Evolution and maintenance of mtDNA gene content across eukaryotes.The Biochemical journal · 2024Review
- Ecological Predictors of Organelle Genome Evolution: Phylogenetic Correlations with Taxonomically Broad, Sparse, Unsystematized Data.Systematic biology · 2024Article
- The Nitroplast and Its Relatives Support a Universal Model of Features Predicting Gene Retention in Endosymbiont and Organelle Genomes.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
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Abstract
backgroundThe endosymbiosis of the bacterial progenitors of the mitochondrion and the chloroplast are landmark events in the evolution of life on Earth. While both organelles have retained substantial proteomic and biochemical complexity, this complexity is not reflected in the content of their genomes. Instead, the organellar genomes encode fewer than 5% of the genes found in living relatives of their ancestors. While many of the 95% of missing organellar genes have been discarded, others have been transferred to the host nuclear genome through a process known as endosymbiotic gene transfer.
resultsHere, we demonstrate that the difference in the per-cell copy number of the organellar and nuclear genomes presents an energetic incentive to the cell to either delete organellar genes or transfer them to the nuclear genome. We show that, for the majority of transferred organellar genes, the energy saved by nuclear transfer exceeds the costs incurred from importing the encoded protein into the organelle where it can provide its function. Finally, we show that the net energy saved by endosymbiotic gene transfer can constitute an appreciable proportion of total cellular energy budgets and is therefore sufficient to impart a selectable advantage to the cell.
conclusionThus, reduced cellular cost and improved energy efficiency likely played a role in the reductive evolution of mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes and the transfer of organellar genes to the nuclear genome.
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