title: A comprehensive analysis of three Asiatic black bear mitochondrial genomes (subspecies ussuricus, formosanus and mupinensis), with emphasis on the complete mtDNA sequence of Ursus thibetanus ussuricus (Ursidae).
abstract: In the present paper, we describe the mitochondrial genome sequence of the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus ussuricus) with particular emphasis on the control region (CR), and compared with mitochondrial genomes on molecular relationships among the bears. The mitochondrial genome sequence of U. thibetanus ussuricus was 16,700 bp in size with mostly conserved structures (e.g. 13 protein-coding, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes). The CR consisted of several typical conserved domains such as F, E, D, and C boxes, and a conserved sequence block. Nucleotide sequences and the repeated motifs in the CR were different among the bear species, and their copy numbers were also variable according to populations, even within F1 generations of U. thibetanus ussuricus. Comparative analyses showed that the CR D1 region was highly informative for the discrimination of the bear family. These findings suggest that nucleotide sequences of both repeated motifs and CR D1 in the bear family are good markers for species discriminations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Environmental Bioscience, Graduate School, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dae-Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Jang-Seu
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ki
authors.forename: Dong-Hyuk
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Bo-Hyun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bae-Keun
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jae-Seong
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D019901:Locus Control Region; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics; D018741:Replication Origin; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D001503:Ursidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D012313:RNA; D012343:RNA, Transfer