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Molecular Evolution at the Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 2 Gene Among Divergent Populations of the Intertidal Copepod, Tigriopus californicus

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Abstract

The cytochrome c oxidase subunit 2 gene (COII) encodes a highly conserved protein that is directly responsible for the initial transfer of electrons from cytochrome c to cytochrome c oxidase (COX) crucial to the production of ATP during cellular respiration. Despite its integral role in electron transport, we have observed extensive intraspecific nucleotide and amino acid variation among 26 full-length COII sequences sampled from seven populations of the marine copepod, Tigriopus californicus. Although intrapopulation divergence was virtually nonexistent, interpopulation divergence at the COII locus was nearly 20% at the nucleotide level, including 38 nonsynonymous substitutions. Given the high degree of interaction between the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 2 protein (COX2) and the nuclear-encoded subunits of COX and cytochrome c (CYC), we hypothesized that some codons in the COII gene are likely to be under positive selection in order to compensate for amino acid substitutions in other subunits. Estimates of the ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution (ω), obtained using a series of maximum likelihood models of codon substitution, indicated that the majority of codons in T. californicus COII are under strong purifying selection (ω << 1), while approximately 4% of the sites in this gene appear to evolve under relaxed selective constraint (ω = 1). A branch-site maximum likelihood model identified three sites that may have experienced positive selection within the central California sequence clade in our COII phylogeny; these results are consistent with previous studies showing functional and fitness consequences among interpopulation hybrids between central and northern California populations.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank C. Willett, J. Flowers, S. Harrison, and four anonymous reviewers for providing comments on an eary version of the manuscript. This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation to R.S.B. (DEB 94-09066, 98-15424, and 02-36363) and an NSF/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Evolution to P.D.R.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Paul D. Rawson

  2. Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Ronald S. Burton

  3. University of Maine, 5751 Murray Hall, Orono, ME, 04469-5751, USA

    Paul D. Rawson

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  1. Paul D. Rawson
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  2. Ronald S. Burton
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Correspondence to Paul D. Rawson.

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[Reviewing Editor: Dr. Willie Swanson]

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Rawson, P.D., Burton, R.S. Molecular Evolution at the Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 2 Gene Among Divergent Populations of the Intertidal Copepod, Tigriopus californicus. J Mol Evol 62, 753–764 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-005-0074-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-005-0074-7

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