Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Biol Lett. 2017 Nov;13(11). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0570.
Mitochondrial genome heteroplasmy-the presence of more than one genomic variant in individuals-is considered only occasional in animals, and most often involves molecules differing only by a few recent mutations. Thanks to new sequencing technologies, a large number of DNA fragments from a single individual can now be sequenced and visualized separately, allowing new insights into intra-individual mitochondrial genome variation. Here, we report evidence from both (i) massive parallel sequencing (MPS) of genomic extracts and (ii) Sanger sequencing of PCR products, for the widespread co-occurrence of two distantly related (greater than 1% nucleotide divergence, excluding the control region) mitochondrial genomes in individuals of a natural population of the leaf beetle Sanger sequencing of PCR products using universal primers previously failed to identify heteroplasmy in this population. Its occurrence was detected with MPS data and may have important implications for evolutionary studies. It suggests the need to re-evaluate, using MPS techniques, the proportion of animal species displaying heteroplasmy.
线粒体基因组异质性——个体中存在不止一种基因组变异——在动物中被认为是偶然的，而且大多数情况下涉及的分子仅在最近发生了少数突变。由于新的测序技术，可以对单个个体的大量 DNA 片段进行单独测序和可视化，从而深入了解个体内部线粒体基因组的变异。在这里，我们通过（i）基因组提取物的大规模平行测序（MPS）和（ii）聚合酶链反应（PCR）产物的 Sanger 测序，报告了来自自然种群个体的两种远缘（核苷酸差异大于 1%，不包括控制区）线粒体基因组广泛共存的证据。先前使用通用引物对 PCR 产物进行的 Sanger 测序未能在该种群中鉴定出异质性。其发生是通过 MPS 数据检测到的，这可能对进化研究具有重要意义。这表明需要使用 MPS 技术重新评估显示异质性的动物物种的比例。
