Genetic analysis of systematic mitochondrial heteroplasmy in rabbits

Experiments determining the process of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transmission in eight female rabbits show that three processes, genetic drift in the germ line, short molecule selection and molecular diversity through high mutation rates, occur concurrently to mediate systematic heteroplasmy for long-repeat transmission. Heteroplasmy induces the onset of genetic drift while deletions and insertions of repeated subunits induce molecular diversity and elucidate the genetic drift. Mutation rates differ for each type, with the deletions in the one unit having a higher frequency than those in two units, indicating that the frequency profiles of mtDNA depend on the organ under study.