Journal article
Transcription of the Extensively Fragmented Mitochondrial Genomes of Human Lice
Biology, Vol.15(4), pp.1-17
2026
PMCID: PMC12938707
PMID: 41744607
Abstract
The mitochondrial (mt) genomes of animals, including humans, are typically a single circular chromosome containing all mt genes. In several animal lineages, however, mt genomes have become fragmented, with genes distributed on multiple minichromosomes. How fragmented mt genomes are transcribed is still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the transcription of the extensively fragmented mt genomes of the human head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) and the human body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis). RNA-seq reads of both subspecies were retrieved from the NCBI Sequence Read Archive database and mapped to their mt genomes. The transcription level of each mt gene, minichromosome, motif, coding region and non-coding region, measured by RPKM (Reads Per Kilobase of transcript per Million mapped reads), TPM (Transcripts Per Million) or read coverage, was analysed statistically. In both subspecies, mt minichromosomes were transcribed entirely, with coding regions transcribed at much higher levels than non-coding regions. The 37 mt genes are transcribed unevenly, with rrnL, cox1, cox2, cox3 and atp6 transcribed at significantly higher levels than several other genes. Many transcription events terminate near a GC-rich motif in the non-coding regions; however, some transcription events pass this motif, leading to the transcription of entire non-coding regions. Despite the drastic difference in mt genome organisation, the human lice share several transcriptional features with humans, but also have unique features related to their fragmented mt genome organisation. The current study represents the first effort into the transcription of fragmented mt genomes. As more RNA-seq data become available, further studies on other animals with fragmented mt genomes are necessary to fully understand how genome fragmentation affects transcription.
Details
- Title
- Transcription of the Extensively Fragmented Mitochondrial Genomes of Human Lice
- Authors
- Emily Dunn (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringRenfu Shao (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Biology, Vol.15(4), pp.1-17
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.3390/biology15040296
- ISSN
- 2079-7737
- PMID
- 41744607; PMC12938707
- Copyright note
- © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
- Data Availability
- All the RNA-seq data analysed in the article are available in the NCBI SRA database as described in Section 2.
- Grants
- The biodiversity, taxonomy and systematics of Australian sucking lice (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Anoplura), RF217-51, Australian Biological Resources Study
- Grant note
- ECR and MCR grant from the Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991209385802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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