[Simple procedure for the isolation of animal mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid]

A simple procedure for the isolation of animal mitochondrial DNA is described. It includes deproteinization of mitochondrial lysates with phenol, precipitation of total nucleic acids with polyethylene glycol, RNA precipitation by saet and final purification of DNA using gel chromatography on a Sepharose 4B column. MtDNA preparations obtained were free from protein and RNA and were represented predimonantly by the covalently closed molecules. The content of D-looped molecules in these preparations was equal to 45%.