Independent transfer of mitochondrial chromosomes and plasmids during unstable vegetative fusion in Neurospora

The sporadic distribution of similar introns in organelle, nuclear ribosomal RNA and bacteriophage genes suggests that at least some of these introns are mobile genetic elements. Some plasmids in fungal mitochondria contain intron-like sequences and, like introns, they have scattered distributions within and among species. The occurrence and evolutionary importance of such horizontal transfer of DNA, not only between fungi, but among a wide range of organisms have been matters of much discussion. Here, we report experimental evidence for transfer of Neurospora mitochondrial plasmids from one mitochondrial genotype to another at high frequency during unstable vegetative cell fusion. Exchange of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes can also occur. These observations suggest that vegetative fusion may have a more important role in the mitochondrial genetic structure of natural populations than is generally thought, and may provide an explanation for the distribution of certain plasmids and possibly other mobile genetic elements.