Restriction map of White-Tailed Deer mitochondrial DNA

    The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule of vertebrates is a circular molecule about 17,000 bp (17 Kbp) in circumference. Double-digest analysis of mtDNA from a White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of eastern North America identifies the positions of 33 six-base-pair restriction sites from 10 different restriction endonucleases (letter codes a, b, c, e, f, h, j, x, y, & z). This gives a restriction map of the molecule based on 198bp, about 1% of the genome.

    The restriction map can be oriented to the functional map of gene regions in the molecule by the placement of the two highly-conserved Sst II sites [z] in the 12S & 16s rRNA genes at an interval of 1.6kbp. This map was part of one of the earliest uses of variation among restriction maps to look at relationships within and between closely related species, including western Mule Deer (O. hemionus) [SM Carr et al. 1986. Proc Natl Acad Aci 83:9576] .