Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 14, 754-761, Copyright © 1997 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
A Harlid, A Janke and U Arnason
The complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule of the ostrich, Struthio
camelus, was sequenced. The size of the molecule is 16,591 nucleotides.
Since the ostrich represents the paleognathous birds, comparison with the
mtDNA of the neognathous chicken, the only avian species reported so far in
databases, made it possible to identify common and, probably, general avian
mtDNA characteristics. Relative to other vertebrates, the avian NADH6 and
tRNA-Glu genes are positioned upstream of the control region rather than
the cytochrome b gene. The NADH3 gene of the ostrich is terminated by a
stop codon at position 207. Thus, the gene is about 140 nucleotides shorter
than in other vertebrates. The sequence for L-strand origin of replication
is missing in both birds, and four transfer RNA genes of the two avian
mtDNAs deviate from common characteristics of tRNAs of vertebrate mtDNAs by
having an adenine (and not a thymidine) at position 8. Due to the absence
of suitable fossils, most paleontological datings of avian divergences are
conjectural. Molecular dating of the divergence between the ostrich and the
chicken indicates that these two avian lineages separated 80-90 MYA.
Phylogenetic analysis of complete cytochrome b genes of six avian orders
showed that Passeriformes represent the earliest divergence among recent
birds, contradicting the commonly accepted notion of a basal position of
the Palaeognathae among recent birds.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The mtDNA sequence of the ostrich and the divergence between paleognathous and neognathous birds
Department of Genetics, University of Lund, Sweden. anna.harlid@gen.lu.se
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