Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, C.N.R.S. UMR 5554, Place E. Bataillon, CC 64, 34195 Montpellier, France.
Mol Ecol. 2009 Nov;18(22):4541-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04380.x. Epub 2009 Oct 9.
Over the last three decades, mitochondrial DNA has been the most popular marker of molecular diversity, for a combination of technical ease-of-use considerations, and supposed biological and evolutionary properties of clonality, near-neutrality and clock-like nature of its substitution rate. Reviewing recent literature on the subject, we argue that mitochondrial DNA is not always clonal, far from neutrally evolving and certainly not clock-like, questioning its relevance as a witness of recent species and population history. We critically evaluate the usage of mitochondrial DNA for species delineation and identification. Finally, we note the great potential of accumulating mtDNA data for evolutionary and functional analysis of the mitochondrial genome.
在过去的三十年中，线粒体 DNA 一直是分子多样性最受欢迎的标记，这是由于其技术易用性的考虑，以及假定的克隆性、近中性和替代率类似时钟的生物学和进化特性的结合。在回顾了该主题的最新文献后，我们认为线粒体 DNA 并不总是克隆的，远非中性进化的，而且肯定不是类似时钟的，这使其作为最近物种和种群历史见证的相关性受到质疑。我们批判性地评估了线粒体 DNA 在物种划分和鉴定中的应用。最后，我们注意到积累 mtDNA 数据对于线粒体基因组的进化和功能分析具有巨大的潜力。
