Power and Pitfall of the use of Mitochondrial DNA in anthropology

BIANCHI NO; BAILLIET G

Journal of Genetics and Molecular Biology

Airiti Library

Lugar: Taiwan; Año: 1993 vol. 4 p. 33 - 45

Mitochondrial DNA has been extensively used to trace the origin of modern humans and the migratory movements that led to the people of Continents. Properties that make the mt-genome well suited to meet the above problems are its maternal inheritance, the lack of recombination and the 10 to 12 fold higher rate of mutations than the single copy nuclear DNA. Yet, recent information suggests the need of further validation for some of the above assumptions. The presence of paternally derived mtDNA with paternal to maternal molecular ratio of 1:1000 has been detected in backcross hybrids. of Mus Musculus x M. domesticus.The restriction site approach suggests that the initial migration into America resulted in a severe genetic bottleneck producing a limited variability in the mt-genome of Amerindian. On the other hand, by using the D-loop approach no genetic bottleneck could be detected.