Genetics, Vol 144, 241-248, Copyright © 1996

INVESTIGATIONS

The Effects of Natural Hybridization on the Regulation of Doubly Uniparental mtDNA Inheritance in Blue Mussels (Mytilus spp.)

P. D. Rawson, C. L. Secor and T. J. Hilbish
Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208

Blue mussels in the Mytilus edulis species complex have a doubly uniparental mode of mtDNA inheritance with separate maternal and paternal mtDNA lineages. Female mussels inherit their mtDNA solely from their mother, while males inherit mtDNA from both parents. In the male gonad the paternal mtDNA is preferentially replicated so that only paternal mtDNA is transmitted from fathers to sons. Hybridization is common among differentiated blue mussel taxa; whenever it involves M. trossulus, doubly uniparental mtDNA inheritance is disrupted. We have found high frequencies of males without and females with paternal mtDNA among hybrid mussels produced by interspecific matings between M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus. In contrast, hybridization between M. galloprovincialis and M. edulis does not affect doubly uniparental inheritance, indicating a difference in the divergence of the mechanisms regulating mtDNA inheritance among the three blue mussel taxa. Our data indicate a high frequency of disrupted mtDNA transmission in F(1) hybrids and suggest that two separate mechanisms, one regulating the transmission of paternal mtDNA to males and another inhibiting the establishment of paternal mtDNA in females, act to regulate doubly uniparental inheritance. We propose a model for the regulation of doubly uniparental inheritance that is consistent with these observations.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. S. Ort and G. H. Pogson Molecular Population Genetics of the Male and Female Mitochondrial DNA Molecules of the California Sea Mussel, Mytilus californianus Genetics, October 1, 2007; 177(2): 1087 - 1099. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Burzynski, M. Zbawicka, D. O. F. Skibinski, and R. Wenne Doubly Uniparental Inheritance Is Associated With High Polymorphism for Rearranged and Recombinant Control Region Haplotypes in Baltic Mytilus trossulus Genetics, November 1, 2006; 174(3): 1081 - 1094. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Cao, E. Kenchington, E. Zouros, and G. C. Rodakis Evidence That the Large Noncoding Sequence Is the Main Control Region of Maternally and Paternally Transmitted Mitochondrial Genomes of the Marine Mussel (Mytilus spp.) Genetics, June 1, 2004; 167(2): 835 - 850. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Cao, E. Kenchington, and E. Zouros Differential Segregation Patterns of Sperm Mitochondria in Embryos of the Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis) Genetics, February 1, 2004; 166(2): 883 - 894. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Moriyama and S. Kawano Rapid, Selective Digestion of Mitochondrial DNA in Accordance With the matA Hierarchy of Multiallelic Mating Types in the Mitochondrial Inheritance of Physarum polycephalum Genetics, July 1, 2003; 164(3): 963 - 975. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Riginos and J. H. McDonald Positive Selection on an Acrosomal Sperm Protein, M7 Lysin, in Three Species of the Mussel Genus Mytilus Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2003; 20(2): 200 - 207. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Riginos, K. Sukhdeo, and C. W. Cunningham Evidence for Selection at Multiple Allozyme Loci Across a Mussel Hybrid Zone Mol. Biol. Evol., March 1, 2002; 19(3): 347 - 351. [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Quesada, M. Warren, and D. O. F. Skibinski Nonneutral Evolution and Differential Mutation Rate of Gender-Associated Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in the Marine Mussel Mytilus Genetics, July 1, 1998; 149(3): 1511 - 1526. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Shitara, J.-I. Hayashi, S. Takahama, H. Kaneda, and H. Yonekawa Maternal Inheritance of Mouse mtDNA in Interspecific Hybrids: Segregation of the Leaked Paternal mtDNA Followed by the Prevention of Subsequent Paternal Leakage Genetics, February 1, 1998; 148(2): 851 - 858. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				The Fate of Paternal Mitochondrial DNA in Developing Female Mussels, Mytilus edulis: Implications for the Mechanism of Doubly Uniparental Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA Genetics, January 1, 1998; 148(1): 341 - 348.