Extreme genome found in head lice

[Michaelangelica]

Extreme genome found in head lice(ScienceAlert)

"It will be of little comfort to parents but head lice have the most highly evolved mitochondrial chromosomes of all multi-celled animals," said Associate Professor Stephen Barker of the Parasitology Section, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, at The University of Queensland.

What's more, parts of these 12 mini-chromosomes join to one another for a while only to split again later.

 

"This is extraordinary," Associate Professor Barker said.

 

These mini-chromosomes "seem to sit at the summit of mitochondrial chromosome evolution," his colleague, Dr Renfu Shao said.

 

"So the mitochondrial chromosomes of head lice, in this sense, are extreme genomes," he said.

 

The lice that infect the nearest living relatives of humans, the chimpanzee, also have these extreme genomes.