Mitochondrial Genome of the Korean Endemic Arabis takesimana (Brassicaceae): Addition to the Genomic Resources and Evolutionary Insights

Abstract

Simple Summary Plant mitochondrial genomes (mitogenome) provide valuable information for understanding plant evolution, diversity, and relationships, but they remain less well studied than plastid genomes. In this study, we generated the mitogenome of Arabis takesimana, a Korean endemic species and only the third Arabis species with an available mitogenome. The mitogenome is about 292 kb long and contains genes essential for mitochondrial function, along with plastid-derived DNA and repetitive sequences. Linear regression revealed a strong association between transposable-element content and mitogenome size across the sampled Brassicaceae species, whereas plastid-derived DNA and repetitive sequences showed weaker associations. We also identified variable mitochondrial genes that may be useful as molecular markers and found evidence of different evolutionary pressures acting on mitochondrial genes. Our study provides a valuable new genomic resource for A. takesimana and offers initial insights into mitochondrial genome evolution within the sampled Brassicaceae lineages. Because taxonomic sampling was limited, these findings should be considered preliminary. Nevertheless, the study provides useful information for future research on plant mitochondrial evolution, phylogenetics, and comparative genomics.