Why genetic variation was studied in mtDNA genes at Hoekstra et al. (2004)?

First of all, mtDNA is known as a double-stranded, circular, covalent closed molecule. Because it is inherited as a haplotype from the mother so it is considered as an ideal molecule for evolutionary studies. In this experiment the genetic variation of mtDNA genes were studied for the same purposes. Here mtDNA was used to track female demography. It was also used to identify the accurate measurement of average gen flow between two sexes. The estimation of migration rates also determined based on the data that was come from single no-breeding region of mtDNA genome. The estimation of FST and YST also got from mtDNa sequence data.

Written by:

Md. Rayhan Mahmud

Masters student, Department of Ecology and Population Genetics

University of Oulu, Finland

M.Sc. in Microbiology, Jagannath University, Bangladesh