Big trees from little genomes: mitochondrial gene order as a phylogenetic tool

Gene arrangement comparisons are a powerful tool for phylogenetic studies, especially those focused on ancient relationships. Recent reports using met azoan mitochondrial genomes address evolutionary relationships as well as r ates and mechanisms of rearrangement. Mitochondrial systems serve as a mode l for larger-scale comparisons of whole organismal genomes and a stimulus f or developing methods for reconstructing the patterns of rearrangement.