Abstract
Through bacterial cloning, a non-specific product co-amplified in a previous whole mitochondrial genome study of Canis lupus familiaris was identified as part of a Numt on chromosome 29 of the dog. Even though further analysis confirmed the fidelity of the mitochondrial genome sequencing results, it still highlighted the risk of Numt contamination. A computer-based search of the dog’s nuclear genome for segments homologous to the mtDNA sequence revealed the extent of this risk. Over 150 Numts of various sizes were observed throughout all but two chromosomes, covering all positions of the mtDNA. One of the Numts on chromosome 11 even covered over 95 % of the entire dog mtDNA sequence. This comprehensive list of Numts was provided to assist researchers with the evaluation of dog mtDNA sequencing protocols for Numt co-amplification.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the staff members of the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University for scientific help. S. Verscheure is a PhD student at the University of Antwerp supported by a Grant from the Belgian Science Policy Office. This work was conducted in the framework of the FWO research community W0.009.11 N “Belgian Network for DNA Barcoding”.
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Verscheure, S., Backeljau, T. & Desmyter, S. In silico discovery of a nearly complete mitochondrial genome Numt in the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) nuclear genome. Genetica 143, 453–458 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-015-9844-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-015-9844-3