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 metazoan mitochondrial genomes address evolutionary relationships as well as rates and mechanisms of rearrangement. Mitochondrial systems serve as a model for larger-scale comparisons of whole organismal genomes and a stimulus for developing methods for reconstructing the patterns of rearrangement.