How do you know if the halibut you purchased at the supermarket is really halibut? To identify the source of a biological sample, scientists PCR amplify and then sequence a region of DNA known to vary between species. For animals, this DNA region is a 648-base pair portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. The sequence of this mtDNA region acts as a so-called DNA barcode because a database exists that contains the sequences of this mtDNA region that are unique for hundreds of thousands of animal species. A) Why do you think that a region of mitochondrial DNA is used for barcoding animals, as opposed to a region of nuclear genomic DNA?

Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Course List)
11th Edition
ISBN:9781305251052
Author:Michael Cummings
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How do you know if the halibut you purchased at the supermarket is really halibut? To identify the source of a biological sample, scientists PCR amplify and then sequence a region of DNA known to vary between species. For animals, this DNA region is a 648-base pair portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. The sequence of this mtDNA region acts as a so-called DNA barcode because a database exists that contains the sequences of this mtDNA region that are unique for hundreds of thousands of animal species.

A) Why do you think that a region of mitochondrial DNA is used for barcoding animals, as opposed to a region of nuclear genomic DNA?

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