Tube Anemone has the Largest Animal Mitochondrial Genome
The tube anemone, Isarachnanthus nocturnus, is only 15 cm long but it has the largest mitochondrial genome sequenced to date – including humans. The human genome has 16,569 base pairs, the tube anemone tops up at 80,923 base pairs.
Mitochondrial genome is simpler than the nuclear genome. For example, the human nuclear genome contains 3 billion base pairs. The nuclear genome of the anemone has not yet been sequenced so we don’t know how big it is.
The anemone is found in the Atlantic coast from Patagonia in Argentina up to the East Coast of the US.
The findings were published in Scientific Reports led by Sérgio Nascimento Stampar, a professor in São Paulo State University’s School of Sciences and Letters (FCL-UNESP) at Assis in Brazil.
Image: Guy Dugas from Pixabay
Saima Baig
I am a Chartered Environmentalist from the Royal Society for the Environment, UK and co-owner of DoLocal Digital Marketing Agency Ltd, with a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University, an MBA in Finance, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics. I am passionate about science, history and environment and love to create content on these topics.
