| Rotifers are microscopic, unsegmented, bilaterally symmetrical animals. Little is known about the rotifer mitochondrial genome. Traditional animal mitochondrial DNA preparation requires large amounts of fresh materials and is not feasible for microscopic invertebrates which are not easily cultured in the laboratory. The present investigation for the first time used PCR to amplify an 11 kb fragment of an animal mitochondrial genome. The PCR product was cloned, a sequence of approximately 4 kb was determined. Eight genes have been identified in the region sequenced. They are: ND1, ATPase 6, cytochrome b, 16S rRNA, tRNA{dollar}rmsp{lcub}Asp{rcub}, tRNAsp{lcub}Lys{rcub}, tRNAsp{lcub}Met{rcub},{dollar} and tRNA{dollar}rmsp{lcub}Tyr{rcub}{dollar} genes. The gene order of this fragment differs from what has been reported for other animals. |
