Polymorphism and structural features of two noncoding regions of the liver fluke <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fasciola hepatica</Emphasis> (Plathelminthes: Trematoda) mitochondrial genome

Structural characteristics and polymorphism of the long (LNR) and short (SNR) mitochondrial noncoding regions were studied in the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica. Flukes were sampled from several populations of Russia and Belarus. LNR amplification yielded a set of nine fragments, neighboring ones differing in length by one tandem repeat (85 bp), published for Australian flukes. The LNR amplification products of different lengths were cloned and sequenced. A comparison of the LNR sequences of Australian and Belarussian flukes revealed three nucleotide substitutions and one point heteroplasmy in the first positions of the imperfect repeat and four adjacent perfect repeats. The positions of the three mutations coincided in the perfect and imperfect repeats. The frequency of mutations was 4.0–4.7 %, while the frequency of heteroplasmic sites varied from 0.1 to 1.2%. It was shown that the mutations and the heteroplasmy of one site could change the structure and stability of the putative secondary structures of the perfect and imperfect repeats. SNR amplification in F. hepatica from several populations yielded fragments that differed from the published SNR sequence of Australian F. hepatica by one transversion (T → G in position 21). Both noncoding regions had several conserved and potential regulatory sequences. The possible causes of heteroplasmy and a concerted origin of substitutions in different repeats are discussed.