The complete nucleotide sequence of Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus) mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

Mammalian mitochondria contain their own ∼16.5 kb circular genome. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes for a subset of the proteins involved in the electron transport chain and depletion or mutation of the sequence is implicated in a number of human disease processes. The recent finding is that mitochondrial damage mediates genotoxicity after exposure to chemical carcinogens has focused attention on the role of mtDNA mutations in the development of cancer. Although the entire genome has been sequenced for a number of mammals, only a small fraction of the mtDNA sequence is available for hamsters. We have obtained here the entire 16,284 bp sequence of the Chinese hamster mitochondrial genome, which will enable detailed analysis of mtDNA mutations caused by exposure to mutagens in hamster-derived cell lines.

• Chinese hamster
• Cricetulus griseus
• mitochondrial
• genome
• DNA
• sequence

Acknowledgements

We thank Winsome Walker for expert technical assistance. Work supported by National Institutes of Health grants CA 049062, ES 05786, ES 12888, Superfund grant P42 ES 10349 and Environmental Center grant ES 09089.

Notes

^*Sequence data from this article has been deposited with GenBank Data Libraries under the accession number DQ390542