01494naa a2200181 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000200006024501060008026000090018652009100019565300240110570000150112970000170114470000200116170000200118177301110120118692252013-08-26       1988    bl ---       0--  u    #d1 aLONSDALE, D. M.  aThe plant mitochondrial genomebhomologous recombination as a mechanism for generating heterogeneity.  c1988  aThe mitochondrial genomes of higher plants are among the largest and most complex organelle genomes described. They are generally multicircular or partly linear; in some species, extrachromosomal plasmids are present. It is proposed that inter- and intramolecular homologous recombination can account for the diversity of the observed genome organizations. The ability of mitochondria to fuse establishes a panmictic mitochondrial DNA population which is in recombinational equilibrium. It is suggested that this suppresses the base mutation rate, and unequal partitioning of the cytoplasm during cell division can lead to the rapid evolution of mitochondrial genome structure. This contrasts with the observed rates of base-sequence and genome evolution in chloroplasts. This difference can be accounted for solely by the inability of chloroplasts to fuse, thereby preventing chloroplast genome panmixis.  aGenoma mitocondrial1 aBREARS, T.1 aHODGE, T. P.1 aMELVILLE, S. E.1 aROTTMANN, W. H.  tPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciencesgv. 319, n. 1193, p. 149-163, 1988.