Peer Review #1 of "Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the “copper moss” Mielichhoferia elongata reveals independent nad7 gene functionality loss (v0.1)"

Abstract

The mitochondrial genome of moss Mielichhoferia elongata has been sequenced and assembled with Spades genome assembler. It consists of 100,342 base pairs and has practically the same gene set and its order as in other known bryophyte chondriomes. The genome contains 66 genes including three rRNAs, 24 tRNAs, and 40 conserved mitochondrial proteins genes. Unlike the majority of previously sequenced bryophyte mitogenomes, it lacks the functional nad7 gene. The phylogenetic reconstruction and scrutiny analysis of the primary structure of nad7 gene carried out in this study suggest its independent pseudogenization in different bryophyte lineages. Evaluation of the microsatellite (simple sequence repeat) content of the Mielichhoferia elongata mitochondrial genome indicates that it could be used as a tool in further studies as a phylogenetic marker. The strongly supported phylogenetic tree presented here, derived from 33 protein coding sequences of 40 bryophyte species is consistent with other reconstructions based on a number of different data sets.