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Updated: May 17, 2026

In Situ Labeling of Mitochondrial DNA Replication in Drosophila Adult Ovaries by EdU Staining
Published on: October 15, 2016
In vivo mutagenesis reveals that OriL is essential for mitochondrial DNA replication
Sjoerd Wanrooij1, Javier Miralles Fusté, James B Stewart
1Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 440, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Abstract:
The mechanisms of mitochondrial DNA replication have been hotly debated for a decade. The strand-displacement model states that lagging-strand DNA synthesis is initiated from the origin of light-strand DNA replication (OriL), whereas the strand-coupled model implies that OriL is dispensable. Mammalian mitochondria cannot be transfected and the requirements of OriL in vivo have therefore not been addressed. We here use in vivo saturation mutagenesis to demonstrate that OriL is essential for mtDNA maintenance in the mouse. Biochemical and bioinformatic analyses show that OriL is functionally conserved in vertebrates. Our findings strongly support the strand-displacement model for mtDNA replication.
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