Molecular study of mitochondrial electron transport chain genes in Iranian single and double humped camels

The present study aimed to determine the sequence of mitochondrial DNA genes encoding NADH dehydrogenase subunits 1, 5 and 6, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and ATP synthase subunit 6 in the Iranian single and doublehumped camels. In this study, 10 Dromedary blood samples from Mashad slaughter house, and 15 blood Bacterian camel's Meshkinshahr Breeding Center samples from were collected. After DNA extraction, the regions of mtDNA was amplified by PCR and sequenced by chain termination method. Results showed that, the energy-related mitochondrial genes showed amino acid substitutions according to their roles in energy metabolism in both camels. ATP6 acquired the greatest changes because it controls the majority of energy production, and the COX1 acquired the lowest changes. The phylogenetic test results showed that Iranian camels have the lowest genetic distance with Arabian camels. Furthermore, it can be concluded that using either individual genes or a set of genes to draw a phylogenetic tree will lead to the same result. Therefore, to perform phylogenetic studies, we can propose that using only one of these genes can generate a tree, which represents a group of genes.