Co-evolution of Large inverted repeats and G-quadruplex DNA in fungal mitochondria may facilitate mitogenome stability: the case ofMalassezia

Abstract

AbstractMitogenomes are essential due to their contribution to cell respiration. Recently they have also been implicated in fungal pathogenicity mechanisms. Members of the basidiomycetous yeast genusMalasseziaare an important fungal component of the human skin microbiome, linked to various skin diseases, bloodstream infections, and increasingly implicated in gut diseases and certain cancers. In this study, the comparative analysis ofMalasseziamitogenomes contributed to phylogenetic tree construction for all species. The mitogenomes presented significant size and gene order diversity which correlates to their phylogeny. Most importantly, they showed the inclusion of Large Inverted Repeats (LIRs) and G-quadruplex (G4) DNA elements, renderingMalasseziamitogenomes a valuable test case for elucidating the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for this genome diversity. Both LIRs and G4s coexist and convergently evolved to provide genome stability through recombination. This mechanism is common in chloroplasts but, hitherto, rarely found in mitogenomes.