The complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the donkey and mtDNA comparisons among four closely related mammalian species-pairs |
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Authors: | Xiufeng Xu Anette Gullberg Ulfur Arnason |
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Institution: | 1. Division of Evolutionary Molecular Systematics, University of Lund, S?lvegatan 29, S-223 62, Lund, Sweden
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Abstract: | The nucleotide sequence of the complete mitochondrial genome of the donkey, Equus asinus, was determined. The length of the molecule is 16,670 bp. The length, however, is not absolute due to pronounced heteroplasmy
caused by variable numbers of two types of repetitive motifs in the control region. The sequence of the repeats is (a) 5′-CACACCCA
and (b) 5′-TGCGCGCA, respectively. The order of (a) and (b) can be expressed as {n2(a)+(b)]+m(a)}. In 32 different clones analyzed the number of n and m ranged from 0 to 9 and 1 to 7. The two rRNA genes, the 13 peptide-coding genes, and the 22 tRNA genes of the donkey and the
horse, Equus caballus, were compared in detail. Total nucleotide difference outside the control region was 6.9%. Nucleotide difference between peptide-coding
genes ranged from 6.4% to 9.4% with a mean of 8.0%. In the inferred protein sequences of the 13 peptide-coding genes the amino
acid difference was 0.2–8.8%, and the mean for the 13 concatenated amino acid sequences was 1.9%. In the 22 tRNA genes, the
mean difference was 3.5%, and that in the two rRNA genes was 4.1%. The mtDNA differences between the donkey and the horse
suggest that the evolutionary separation of the two species occurred ≈9 million years ago. Analyses of differences among the
mtDNAs of three other species-pairs, harbor seal/grey seal, fin whale/blue whale, and Homo/common chimpanzee, showed that the relative evolutionary rate of individual peptide-coding genes varies among different species-pairs
and modes of comparison. The findings show that the superimposition of sequence data of one lineage for resolving and dating
evolutionary divergences of other lineages should be performed with caution unless based on comprehensive data.
Received: 15 October 1995 / Accepted: 15 April 1996 |
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Keywords: | : Mitochondrial DNA — Molecular comparisons — Molecular phylogeny — Mammalian species-pairs — Equidae — Donkey — Horse |
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