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9 unusual facts about Mitochondrial DNA


Himalayan wolf

Mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests the Himalayan wolf is distinct from the Tibetan wolf, and represents the most ancient wolf lineage ever recorded.

Javan rhinoceros

Mitochondrial DNA comparison suggests the ancestors of modern rhinos split from the ancestors of Equidae around 50 million years ago.

Ketevan the Martyr

Niraj Rai of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India carried out ancient DNA analysis on these human bone remains excavated from the St. Augustine convent by sequencing and genotyping of the Mitochondrial DNA.

MDNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA or mtDNA), the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed

However the analysis could only be of Mitochondrial DNA, and, while it can be of use in some cases, the entire human race only shows several dozen mutations.

Rhabdomys

Traditionally the genus has been seen as a single species, Rhabdomys pumilio, though modern evidence on the basis of karyotype and mtDNA analysis suggests that it comprises two or more species and subspecies.

Sagmatias

Mitochondrial DNA studies have indicated that certain dolphin species within Lagenorhynchus are actually more closely related to dolphins within the genus Cephalorhynchus.

Sicilian green toad

demonstrated that this Sicilian taxon has a distinct mitochondrial haplotype differing in this respect from all other circum-Mediterranean green toad species.

White Brazilian

On the maternal side, 39% have European Mitochondrial DNA, 33% Amerindian and 28% African female ancestry.


Alistair Moffat

Moffat is the chief executive of the company BritainsDNA, which does genetic analyses of the mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomal DNA of customers who are interested in their ancestry.

Andean Teal

Mitochondrial DNA sequence data is most similar to that of the very different-looking Green-winged Teal.

Archaeogenetics of the Near East

Iraqi mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup distribution is similar to that of Iran, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Georgia, and Armenia, whereas it substantially differs from that observed in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

Genetic studies conducted by Cavalli-Sforza have revealed that Iranians have a weak mtDNA correlation with Semitic speaking Near Eastern groups, with more similarities in Mitochondrial DNA to surrounding Indo-European speaking populations of Asia.

Early human migrations

A mitochondrial DNA sequence of two Cro-Magnons from the Paglicci Cave in Italy, dated to 23,000 and 24,000 years old (Paglicci 52 and 12), identified the mtDNA as Haplogroup N, typical of the latter group.

Edward Vansittart Neale

He was a matrilineal descendant of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, and the mitochondrial DNA descent through which the remains of Richard III of England were identified in 2013 passes through his mother and his sister Charlotte, who married Charles Frere.

Fucus radicans

Studies to find their evolutionary relationship using chloroplast (RuBisCO gene) or mitochondrial DNA (intergenic spacer) sequence markers have been inconclusive.

Giant freshwater stingray

In terms of the broader evolutionary relationships between the giant freshwater whipray and the rest of the family Dasyatidae, a 2012 phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA reported that it was most closely related to the porcupine ray (Urogymnus asperrimus), and that they in turn formed a clade with the mangrove whipray (H. granulata) and the tubemouth whipray (H. lobistoma).

Karl Wilhelm Naundorff

A handful of French historians insist that DNA testing finally resolved the issue of Naundorff's claim —mitochondrial DNA sequences of remains that researchers have claimed to have belonged to Naundorff were compared with sequences obtained from the remains of Marie-Antoinette and two of her sisters, as well as two living maternal relatives.

Lavasoa dwarf lemur

The Lavasoa dwarf lemur, named for the Lavasoa Mountains in southern Madagascar, became the sixth known species in 2013 when it was differentiated from the furry-eared dwarf lemur (C. crossleyi) through analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear material performed by a team of German and Malagasy researchers.

NDUFS4

Complex I is composed of at least 41 subunits, of which 7 are encoded by the mitochondrial genome (ND1-6, ND4L) and the remainder by nuclear genes.

North Island Robin

It was once considered a subspecies of the New Zealand Robin of South and Stewart Islands, but mitochondrial DNA sequences have shown that the two lineages split prior to the Pleistocene and supported the split into two species.


see also

Elaphe

Based on the mitochondrial DNA analysis results, many species of Elaphe have been moved to the genera Bogertophis, Gonyosoma, Orthriophis, Pantherophis, Rhinechis, Senticolis, Zamenis and more.

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy syndrome

Unlike typical mitochondrial diseases caused by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations, MNGIE is caused by mutations in the TYMP gene, which encodes the enzyme thymidine phosphorylase.

Seafarers

Recent maternal mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that Polynesian seafarers, including Tongans, Samoans, Niueans, Cook Islanders, Tahitians, Hawaiians, Marquesans and Māori, are genetically linked to indigenous peoples of parts of Southeast Asia, including those of Taiwan.