[Polymorphism of hypervariable region in D-loop of mitochondrial DNA].

DNA sequences of PCR products from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 80 healthy Japanese volunteers (40 pairs, mother and child) were determined by the direct sequencing method for polymorphism. Thirty (15 pairs) of 80 samples analyzed showed a T-to-C transition at position 16189 (T16189C) of the C-stretch region in the hyper-variable region of mtDNA. For seven pairs randomly selected from the 15 T16189C pairs (C-stretch) and a single pair without the transition (non C-stretch), PCR products from the D-loop region were cloned and then sequenced. The repeat number of C in the C-stretch region was found to show heteroplasmy by sequencing multiples clones from each mtDNA. Statistical analyses of the distribution patterns of the repeat number revealed no significant differences between the mother and child in each lineage but significant differences between the lineages. The seven lineages could be then classified into four groups. The result of our data confirmed the existence of heteroplasmic polymorphism in the C-stretch region and the inheritance of the heteroplasmy from mother to child. Therefore, the analysis of heteroplasmy is applicable to individual identification.