Mitochondrial phylogeny of the Cyprichromini, a lineage of open-water cichlid fishes endemic to Lake Tanganyika, East Africa

Brandstätter,A.; Salzburger,W.; Sturmbauer,C.; We present a phylogeny of the Cyprichromini, a lineage of cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika, showing progressive adaptation towards pelagic life style. Our study is based upon three mitochondrial gene segments, 443bp of the control region, 402bp of the cytochrome b gene and the entire NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene (1047bp). The topologies obtained by different tree building methods subdivide the Cyprichromini into four distinct lineages: the Paracyprichromis-, the Cyprichromis zonatus-, the Cyprichromis microlepidotus-lineage, and a lineage comprising Cyprichromis pavo and Cyprichromis leptosoma. [Read More]

More evidence for non-maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA?

Bandelt,H.J.; Kong,Q.P.; Parson,W.; Salas,A.; Background: A single case of paternal co-transmission ofmitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in humans has been reported so far. Objective: To find potential instances of non-maternal inheritance of mtDNA. Methods: Published medical case studies (of single patients) were searched for irregular mtDNA patterns by comparing the given haplotype information for different clones or tissues with the worldwide mtDNA database as known to date-a method that has proved robust and reliable for the detection of flawed mtDNA sequence data. [Read More]

Phantom mutation hotspots in human mitochondrial DNA

Brandstätter,A.; Sänger,T.; Lutz-Bonengel,S.; Parson,W.; Béraud-Colomb,E.; Wen,B.; Kong,Q.P.; Bravi,C.M.; Bandelt,H.J.; Phantom mutations are systematic artifacts generated in the course of the sequencing process. Contra common belief these artificial mutations are nearly ubiquitous in sequencing results, albeit at frequencies that may vary dramatically. The amount of artifacts depends not only on the sort of automated sequencer and sequencing chemistry employed, but also on other lab-specific factors. An experimental study executed on four samples under various combinations of sequencing conditions revealed a number of phantom mutations occurring at the same sites of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) repeatedly. [Read More]