Coral Mitochondrial Genes


A recent note in Nature reports the finding of a mutS gene in the mitochondrial genome of the coral Sarcophyton glaucum. The reference for this work is:

Pont-Kingdon, G.A., N.A. Okada, J.L. Macfarlane, C.T. Beagley, D.R. Wolstenholme, T. Cavalier-Smith, G.D. Clark-Walker (1995). A coral mitochondrial mutS gene. Nature 375, 109-111.

This report is of particular interest since it is the first case of a mutS gene being found in the mitochondrial DNA of a metazoan. MutS plays a role in the DNA mismatch repair pathway. In other metazoans the mutS gene is found in the nuclear genome.


Click here to return to the Cnidaria home page.