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The pseudo-mitochondrial genome influences mistakes in heteroplasmy interpretation - PubMed

  • ️Sun Jan 01 2006

The pseudo-mitochondrial genome influences mistakes in heteroplasmy interpretation

Ryan L Parr et al. BMC Genomics. 2006.

Abstract

Background: Nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) are a potential source of contamination during mitochondrial DNA PCR amplification. This possibility warrants careful experimental design and cautious interpretation of heteroplasmic results.

Results: Here we report the cloning and sequencing of numts loci, amplified from human tissue and rho-zero (rho0) cells (control) with primers known to amplify the mitochondrial genome. This paper is the first to fully sequence 46 paralogous nuclear DNA fragments that represent the entire mitochondrial genome. This is a surprisingly small number due primarily to the primer sets used in this study, because prior to this, BLAST searches have suggested that nuclear DNA harbors between 400 to 1,500 paralogous mitochondrial DNA fragments. Our results indicate that multiple numts were amplified simultaneously with the mitochondrial genome and increased the load of pseudogene signal in PCR reactions. Further, the entire mitochondrial genome was represented by multiple copies of paralogous nuclear sequences.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that mitochondrial genome disease-associated biomarkers must be rigorously authenticated to preclude any affiliation with paralogous nuclear pseudogenes. Importantly, the common perception that mitochondrial template "swamps" numts loci precluding detectable amplification, depends on the region of the mitochondrial genome targeted by the PCR reaction and the number of pseudogene loci that may co-amplify. Cloning and relevant sequencing data will facilitate the correct interpretation. This is the first complete, wet-lab characterization of numts that represent the entire mitochondrial genome.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

ρ0 cells do not contain mtDNA. a. Southern blot analysis of total DNA extracted from blood (bld) and ρ0 cells and probed with a full length mtDNA probe. Note the absence of hybridization to ρ0 extracts. Lad is a DIG-labeled DNA molecular weight marker III (Roche). b. PCR amplification of cDNA from ρ0 and epithelial cells (EC). Note the amplification of ρ0 cDNA with primers to the nuclear gene hALAS, whereas primers to ND1, ATPase6, and CYTB failed to amplify ρ0 cDNA, although they all amplified cDNA from EC. Lad is a 100bp DNA size standard (Fermentas life sciences).

Figure 2
Figure 2

Numts co-amplify from clinical samples. A representative gel picture showing amplification of clinical samples with primers that also amplify ρ0 template is shown. Unlabelled lanes are the clinical samples. Subsequent analysis of sequences from this amplification (see Figure 5) revealed the presence of pseudogene contamination.

Figure 3
Figure 3

Example of an alignment of three clones. Example of an alignment of three clones (clones G C11. A1, G C3. A1 and G C5.C1) recovered from three chromosomes (Chr11 - NT_009237, Chr5 - NT_006713, and Chr3 - NT_005612) to the rCRS is shown.

Figure 4
Figure 4

The distribution of numt clones. The distribution of numt clones (based on our primers) across the rCRS reveals regions of the rCRS with multiple numts copies. The pseudo-mitochondrial genome assembled from consensus numt sequences.The distribution of numt clones across the rCRS reveals sites that could be problematic when primers are designed to targets in these regions. Clone name, chromosomal location and rCRS positions are indicated above each clone.

Figure 5
Figure 5

Our primers recovered lower number of paralogous sequences compared to BLAST searches. A BLAST search using the rCRS region covered by the three clones (Figure 3a)returns more numts representative of this region(25)than the three obtained by our cloning data.

Figure 6
Figure 6

A “piggyback” effect resulting from chromosomal copy number and shared divergent sites is demonstrated in a patient sample. The chromatogram is from a patient for whom heteroplasmy at positions 1709 and 1719 were later noted tobe homologous to three chromosomes (3, 5, and 11), suggesting a possible co-amplification of numts in this instance.

Figure 7
Figure 7

Multiple numt copies are present in the nucleus. PCR amplification of total DNA extracted from ?0 and blood (bld) cells with primers targeting ND1, ATPase6 and CYTB genes. In contrast to the single amplicons obtained from blood, template from ?0 contains additional high molecular weight amplicons. Lad is a 100bp DNA size standard (Fermentas life sciences).

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