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Heteroplasmy in Hair: Study of Mitochondrial DNA Third Hypervariable Region in Hair and Blood Samples

NCJ Number
231221
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 715-718
Author(s)
Greiciance G. Paneto, M.Sc.; Larissa V.G. Longo, B.S.; Joyce A. Martins, M.Sc.; Maria Angelica de Camargo, B.S.; Jeane C. Costa, B.S.; Aline C.O. de Mello, B.S.; Bety Chen, M.Sc.; Rogerio N. Oliveira, Ph.D.; Mario H. Hirata, Ph.D.; Regina M.B. Cicarelli, Ph.D.
Date Published
May 2010
Length
4 pages
Annotation

To investigate possible heteroplasmy hotspots, HV3 from hair and blood samples of 100 individuals were sequenced and compared.

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis has proved useful for forensic identification especially in cases where nuclear DNA is not available, such as with hair evidence. Heteroplasmy, the presence of more than one type of mtDNA in one individual, is a common situation often reported in the first and second mtDNA hypervariable regions (HV1/HV2), particularly in hair samples. However, there is no data about heteroplasmy frequency in the third mtDNA hypervariable region (HV3). No point heteroplasmy was observed in the current study, but length heteroplasmy was, both in C-stretch and CA repeat. To observe which CA "alleles" were present in each tissue, PCR products were cloned and re-sequenced. However, no variation among CA alleles was observed. Regarding forensic practice, we conclude that point heteroplasmy in HV3 is not as frequent as in the HV1/HV2. 1 figure and 28 references (Published Abstract)