Interpretation Guidelines for Mitochondrial Dna Sequencing

Because of the different characteristics of mtDNA compared with nuclear DNA, the application of mtDNA typing and interpretation of results should not in all ways be the same as that routinely practiced for nuclear DNA typing. A higher success rate with typing mtDNA, as opposed to nuclear DNA, from old bones, severely decomposed or charred remains, or single hair shafts is expected and experienced and is due to the high copy number of mtDNA (19). Loci on the nuclear genome typically occur as only two copies per cell, mtDNA, on the other hand, is present in hundreds or thousands of copies per cell.