Abstract

ROCHA-OLIVARES, Axayácatl; GARBER, Nikola M.; GARBER, Amber F.  and  STUCK, Kenneth C.. Structure of the mitochondrial control region and flanking tRNA genes of Mugil cephalus. Hidrobiológica [online]. 2005, vol.15, n.2, pp.139-149. ISSN 0188-8897.

We cloned and sequenced the mitochondrial (mt) control region (CR) and flanking transfer RNA genes (T, P, and F) of the striped mullet, Mugil cephalus and designed species-specific primers to amplify the entire CR in specimens from the Pacific (Hawaii), the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic. We verified the absence of heteroplasmy and nuclear mtDNA duplications of this region in the organisms sampled, finding an extraordinary level of sequence divergence (mean 38-75% Tamura & Nei distance-Γ) between fish from both Oceans, including Japan. The CR of the mullet was variable in length (845-930 bp) and contained structural elements in common with other CRs, including a central conserved segment flanked by hypervariable regions and smaller conserved sequence blocks. Termination associated sequences, however, were not found. The CR of the striped mullet was rich in AT (~67%) and poor in GC.

Keywords : Mitochondrial DNA; cloning; molecular divergence; mullet; control region.