Evolution of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in Pennatulacea

Abstract

We examine the phylogeny of sea pens using sequences of whole mitochondrial genomes and the nuclear ribosomal cluster generated through low coverage Illumina sequencing. Taxon sampling includes 30 species in 19 genera representing 13 families. Ancestral state reconstruction shows that most sea pen mitochondrial genomes have the ancestral gene order, and that Pennatulacea with diverse gene orders are found in a single clade. The monophyly of Pennatulidae and Protoptilidae are rejected by both the mitochondrial and nuclear dataset, while the mitochondrial dataset further rejects monophyly of Virgulariidae, and the nuclear dataset rejects monophyly of Kophobelemnidae. We show discordance between nuclear ribosomal gene cluster phylogenies and whole mitochondrial genome phylogenies and highlight key Pennatulacea taxa that could be included in cnidarian genome-wide studies to better resolve the sea pen tree of life. We further illustrate how well frequently sequenced markers capture the overall diversity of the mitochondrial genome and the nuclear ribosomal genes in sea pens.

Keywords: Evolution; Pennatulacea; Phylogenomics; Sea pens; Systematics.