Tube anemone has the largest animal mitochondrial genome ever sequenced

The tube anemone Isarachnanthus nocturnus is only 15 cm long but has the largest mitochondrial genome of any animal sequenced to date, with 80,923 base pairs. The human mitochondrial genome (mitogenome), for example, comprises 16,569 base pairs.

Tube anemones (Ceriantharia) are the focus of an article recently published in Scientific Reports describing the findings of a study led by Sérgio Nascimento Stampar, a professor in São Paulo State University’s School of Sciences and Letters (FCL-UNESP) at Assis in Brazil.

The study was supported by FAPESP via a regular grant for the project “Evolution and diversity of Ceriantharia (Cnidaria” and via its program São Paulo Researchers in International Collaboration (SPRINT) under a cooperation agreement with the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte in the US.

Tube anemone has the largest animal mitochondrial genome ever sequenced