XVI International Botanical Congess

Genes for mitochondrial ribosomal proteins have been functionally transferred to the nucleus at remarkably high rates during angiosperm evolution, in most cases hundreds of times independently. Extensive study of one recent case of gene transfer reveals a wide range of evolutionary intermediates in the gene transfer process, including repeated gene losses or inactivations from either the mitochondrial or nuclear compartment. Extraordinary rates of lateral gene flow between plants will be described for a group I intron that has recently invaded the mitochondrial cox1 gene over 1,000 times during angiosperm evolution. Finally, two groups of angiosperms exhibit remarkably variable mutation rates in their mitochondrial genomes, up to 100 times higher than the norm.