The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the liverwort Pleurozia purpurea reveals extremely conservative mitochondrial genome evolution in liverworts.

Plant mitochondrial genomes have been known to be highly unusual in their large sizes, frequent intra-genomic rearrangement, and generally conservative sequence evolution. Recent studies show that in early land plants the mitochondrial genomes exhibit a mixed mode of conservative yet dynamic evolution. Here, we report the completely sequenced mitochondrial genome from the liverwort Pleurozia purpurea. The circular genome has a size of 168,526 base pairs, containing 43 protein-coding genes, 3 rRNA genes, 25 tRNA genes, and 31 group I or II introns. It differs from the Marchantia polymorpha mitochondrial genome, the only other liverwort chondriome that has been sequenced, in lacking two genes (trnRucg and trnTggu) and one intron (rrn18i1065gII). The two genomes have identical gene orders and highly similar sequences in exons, introns, and intergenic spacers. Finally, a comparative analysis of duplicated trnRucu and other trnR genes from the two liverworts and several other organisms identified the recent lateral origin of trnRucg in Marchantia mtDNA through modification of a duplicated trnRucu. This study shows that the mitochondrial genomes evolve extremely slowly in liverworts, the earliest-diverging lineage of extant land plants, in stark contrast to what is known of highly dynamic evolution of mitochondrial genomes in seed plants.