PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hyman, B C
AU  - Slater, T M
TI  - Recent appearance and molecular characterization of mitochondrial DNA deletions within a defined nematode pedigree.
DP  - 1990 Apr 01
TA  - Genetics
PG  - 845--853
VI  - 124
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.genetics.org/content/124/4/845.short
4100  - http://www.genetics.org/content/124/4/845.full
SO  - Genetics1990 Apr 01; 124
AB  - The mitochondrial genome of Romanomermis culicivorax, a parasitic nematode of mosquitoes, contains an amplified 3.0-kilobase (kb) locus organized as direct repeats and as noncontiguous, inverted copies. These amplified sequences are actively undergoing rearrangement. One recent event has resulted in a 1133-base pair (bp) deletion located entirely within a single amplified segment. The deletion junction occurs between two imperfect 58-bp repeats, implicating strand pairing in this alteration. A second event has generated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) forms differing by a single, intact 3.0-kb repeating unit. By analyzing molecules derived from independently reared subcultures, it appears these new mtDNA forms arose within the last 170 nematode generations. Our results indicate that the occurrence and selection of novel animal mitochondrial genomes can now be studied in this experimentally manipulable nematode system.