Both the control and coding regions of their mitochondrial DNA were analyzed in detail, and 14 mtDNAs could be securely assigned to relevant haplogroups.

In another study of ancient DNA published by the same authors in 2011, both the control and coding regions of mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) recovered from Jomon skeletons excavated from the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido, were analyzed in detail, and 54 mtDNAs were confidently assigned to relevant haplogroups.

Some mitochondrial proteins are made inside mitochondria and are coded for by mitochondrial DNA.

Analyses of mitochondrial DNA showed the existing red wolf populations are predominantly coyote in origin.

However, studies of mitochondrial DNA show that the divergence between each of the three chipmunk groups is comparable to the genetic dissimilarity between Marmota and Spermophilus.

Progress in DNA sequencing, specifically mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) and then Y-chromosome DNA advanced the understanding of human origins.

Analyses have shown a greater diversity of DNA patterns throughout Africa, consistent with the idea that Africa is the ancestral home of mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam.

Out of Africa has gained support from research using female mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) and the male Y chromosome.

Studies of haplogroups in Y-chromosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA have largely supported a recent African origin .< ref >

The multiple dispersal model is contradicted by studies indicating that the populations of Eurasia and the populations of Southeast Asia and Oceania are all descended from the same mitochondrial DNA lineages, which support a single migration out of Africa that gave rise to all non-African populations.

By comparing mitochondrial DNA which is inherited only from the mother, geneticists have concluded that the last female common ancestor whose genetic marker is found in all modern humans, the so-called mitochondrial Eve, must have lived around 200, 000 years ago.

Evidence from sequencing mitochondrial DNA indicated that no significant gene flow occurred between H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens, and, therefore, the two were separate species that shared a common ancestor about 660, 000 years ago.

The studies show that mitochondrial DNA, tracing female descent, is 84 % Scottish / Irish.

As reported in the journal Science, testing of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA by Warren Johnson and Stephen O ' Brien of the U. S. National Cancer Institute demonstrated that ancient cats evolved into eight main lineages that diverged in the course of at least 10 migrations ( in both directions ) from continent to continent via the Bering land bridge and Isthmus of Panama, with the Panthera genus being the oldest and the Felis genus being the youngest.

New World nine-primaried oscine relationships: Constructing a mitochondrial DNA framework.

Three DNA types are of particular interest: mitochondrial DNA that we all possess and that is passed down with only minor mutations through the matrilineal ( direct female ) line ; the Y-chromosome, present only in males, which is passed down with only minor mutations through the patrilineal ( direct male ) line ; and the Autosomal DNA, which is found in the 22 non-gender specific chromosomes ( autosomes ) inherited from both parents, which can uncover relatives from any branch of the family.

The term genome can be applied specifically to mean that stored on a complete set of nuclear DNA ( i. e., the " nuclear genome ") but can also be applied to that stored within organelles that contain their own DNA, as with the " mitochondrial genome " or the " chloroplast genome ".

The study deduced from genetic drift in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) that giraffes from these populations are reproductively isolated and rarely interbreed, even though no natural obstacles block their mutual access.

However, the Y-chromosome and mtDNA ( mitochondrial DNA ) testing processes for direct-line male and female ancestors can fail to pick up the heritage of many ancestors.

However, the DNA evidence cited above is from mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ), which can often move easily between closely related species (" introgression ") when they hybridize.

Comparison of mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) sequences of Rafflesia with other angiosperm mtDNA indicated this parasite evolved from photosynthetic plants of the order Malpighiales.

Dr. David Goldstein, a Duke University geneticist and director of the Duke Center for Human Genome Variation, has noted that the Technion and Ramban team confirmed that genetic drift played a major role in shaping Ashkenazi mitochondrial DNA, therefore mtDNA studies fail to draw a statistically significant linkage between modern Jews and Middle Eastern populations, however, this differs from the patrilineal case, where Dr. Goldstein said there is no question of a Middle Eastern origin.

* Haplogroup JT ( mtDNA ), a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup

The fact that mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) is inherited maternally enables the matrilineal lines ( or lineages ) of individuals to be traced scientifically through genetic analysis, see main article, above.

Because all mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) is generally passed from mother to offspring without recombination, all mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) in every living person is directly descended from hers by definition.

Since the mtDNA is inherited maternally and recombination is either rare or absent, it is relatively easy to track the ancestry of the lineages back to a MRCA ; however this MRCA is valid only when discussing mitochondrial DNA.

( A ) Cytoplasmic section after immunogold labelling with anti-DNA ; gold particles marking mtDNA are found near the mitochondrial membrane.

Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are thought to be of separate evolutionary origin, with the mtDNA being derived from the circular genomes of the bacteria that were engulfed by the early ancestors of today's eukaryotic cells.

For human mitochondrial DNA ( and probably for that of metazoans in general ), 100-10, 000 separate copies of mtDNA are usually present per cell ( egg and sperm cells are exceptions ).

The American Journal of Human Genetics released an article in 2007 stating " Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Indigenous American haplogroups, including Haplogroup X ( mtDNA ), were part of a single founding population.

Here, using complete sequences of the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ), we show that close to one-half of Ashkenazi Jews, estimated at 8, 000, 000 people, can be traced back to only four women carrying distinct mtDNAs that are virtually absent in other populations, with the important exception of low frequencies among non-Ashkenazi Jews.

Mitochondrial disorders may be caused by mutations, acquired or inherited, in mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) or in nuclear genes that code for mitochondrial components.

Mitochondrial DNA, however, is strictly inherited from the mother and each mitochondrial organelle typically contains multiple mtDNA copies ( see Heteroplasmy ).

The same granular material is also known under various synonyms: dense bodies, mitochondrial clouds, yolk nuclei, Balbiani bodies, perinuclear P granules in Caenorhabditis elegans, germinal granules in Xenopus laevis and chromatoidal bodies in mouse and polar granules in Drosophila.

This study confirmed and built on results from a previous study using mitochondrial DNA extracted from cave bear remains ranging from 20, 000 to 130, 000 years old.

Additionally, mitochondrial DNA research indicated that the genetic decline of the cave bear began long before it went extinct, demonstrating habitat loss due to climate change was not responsible.

Further investigations on the entire mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence indicate that the divergence of continental and Japanese black bear populations might have occurred when bears crossed the land bridge between the Korean peninsula and Japan 500, 000 years ago, which is consistent with paleontological evidence.

* ; ; ; ; ; 2009: The complete mitochondrial genome of the Formosan black bear ( Ursus thibetanus formosanus ).

A 2009 molecular study using ancient DNA recovered from archaeological finds like bones and teeth places the Przewalski's horse in the middle of the domesticated horses, but more recent mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that the Przewalski and the modern domestic horse diverged some 160, 000 years ago.

S. aequifasciatus and S. discus, meanwhile, seem to hybridise frequently in the wild or have diverged recently, as they lack mitochondrial DNA lineage sorting but differ in color pattern and have dissimilar chromosomal translocation patterns.

Analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data indicates that the crossbills and redpolls share a common ancestor and only diverged during the Tortonian ( c. 8 mya, Late Miocene ).

Since the known ciliate mitochondrial genomes are considerably larger this reduction is genome size must have occurred after their ancestor of this clade diverged from that that gave rise to the extant ciliates.

An in-depth mitochondrial DNA population analysis study stated: “ According to the fossil record, the Red Panda diverged from its common ancestor with bears about 40 million years ago ( Mayr 1986 ).

Based on the amino acid sequences, it seems that MDH has diverged into two main phylogenetic groups that closely resemble either mitochondrial isozymes or cytoplasmic / chloroplast isozymes.

Another study involving mitochondrial DNA suggests a single founding tribe diverged into 4 specific mtDNA lineages responsible for 95 % of all Amerindian genotypes.

Around 80 – 100, 000 years ago, three main lines of Homo sapiens diverged, bearers of mitochondrial haplogroup L1 ( mtDNA ) / A ( Y-DNA ) colonizing Southern Africa ( the ancestors of the Khoisan / Capoid peoples ), bearers of haplogroup L2 ( mtDNA ) / B ( Y-DNA ) settling Central and West Africa ( the ancestors of Niger – Congo and Nilo-Saharan speaking peoples ), while the bearers of haplogroup L3 remained in East Africa.