Population level mitogenomics of the long-lived Greater Mouse-eared bat, Myotis myotis, reveals dynamic heteroplasmy and challenges the Free Radical Theory of Ageing

Background: Bats are the only mammals capable of true, powered flight, which drives an extremely high metabolic rate. The Free Radical Theory of Ageing (FTRA) posits that a high metabolic rate leads to mitochondrial heteroplasmy and the progressive ageing phenotype. Contrary to this, bats are the longest lived order of mammals despite their small size and high metabolic rate. To investigate if bats exhibit increased mitochondrial heteroplasmy with age as predicted by the FRTA, we performed targeted, deep sequencing of mitogenomes and measured point heteroplasmy in wild, long lived Myotis myotis as they age. Results: In total, blood was sampled from 195 individuals, aged between