Mitochondrial DNA: a tool for populational genetics studies Autores/as José A. Castro Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca, Spain Antònia Picornell Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca, Spain Misericòrdia Ramon Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca, Spain Palabras clave: mitochondria, mitochondrial DNA, Balearic Islands populations, mitochondrial haplotypes, Drosophila subobscura Resumen Mitochondria are cellular organelles that have the function of the oxidative phosphorilation and the formation of ATP. In humans, the mtDNA is a double-stranded, circular, covalent closed molecule of 16.5 kb. The mtDNA is inherited as a haploid from the mother and heteroplasmy has been found rarely. From a populational perspective, it could be considered as a system of small, sexually isolated demes, or clonal lineages, with an evolutionary rate 5 to 10 times faster than the nuclear genome. All these characteristics make this molecule ideal for evolutionary studies. We present two applications of this molecule in genetical studies. One of these is referred to the Balearic Islands populations, Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Chuetas. The other example is the populational dynamics of the different mitochondrial haplotypes in Drosophila subobscura. We also discuss the importance of nuclear markers to complete these studies as well as the study of the Y chromosome to compensate the bias produced by the study of only the mtDNA. Descargas PDF (English) Publicado 2010-03-17 Número Vol. 1 Núm. 4 (1998) Sección Review Articles Licencia Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.