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Drosophila mitochondrial DNA: Conserved sequences in the A+T-rich region and supporting evidence for a secondary structure model of the small ribosomal RNA

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Summary

The sequence of a segment of theDrosophila virilis mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule that contains the A+T-rich region, the small rRNA gene, the tRNAf-met, tRNAgln, and tRNAile genes, and portions of the ND2 and tRNAval genes is presented and compared with the corresponding segment of theD. yakuba mtDNA molecule. The A+T-rich regions ofD. virilis andD. yakuba contain two correspondingly located sequences of 49 and 276/274 nucleotides that appear to have been conserved during evolution. In each species the replication origin of the mtDNA molecule is calculated to lie within a region that overlaps the larger conserved sequence, and within this overlap is found a potential hairpin structure. Substitutions between the larger conserved sequences of the A+T-rich regions, the small mt-rRNA genes, and the ND2 genes are biased in favor of transversions, 71–97% of which are A↮T changes. There is a 13.8 times higher frequency of nucleotide differences between the 5′ halves than between the 3′ halves of theD. virilis andD. yakuba small mt-rRNA genes. Considerations of the effects of observed substitutions and deletion/insertions on possible nucleotide pairing within the small mt-rRNA genes ofD. virilis andD. yakuba strongly support the secondary structure model for theDrosophila small mt-rRNA that we previously proposed.

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  1. Douglas O. Clary

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Stanford School of Medicine, 94305, Standford, California, USA

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Utah, 84112, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Douglas O. Clary & David R. Wolstenholme

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  1. Douglas O. Clary
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  2. David R. Wolstenholme
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Clary, D.O., Wolstenholme, D.R. Drosophila mitochondrial DNA: Conserved sequences in the A+T-rich region and supporting evidence for a secondary structure model of the small ribosomal RNA. J Mol Evol 25, 116–125 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02101753

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02101753

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