Analysis of Replication Intermediates Indicates That Drosophila melanogaster Mitochondrial DNA Replicates by a Strand-Coupled Theta Mechanism

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA synthesis is necessary for the normal function of the organelle and for the eukaryotic organism as a whole. Here we demonstrate, using two-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis to analyse replication intermediates, that unidirectional, strand-coupled DNA synthesis is the prevalent mode of mtDNA replication in Drosophila melanogaster.