Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is abundant in human cells, and its uniparental, nonrecombining mode of inheritance and high mutation rate compared to that of the nuclear genome have made mtDNA very useful for studying population and evolutionary genetics. With the advent of High-throughput sequencing technologies, we are going to sequence hundreds of mtDNA genomes from different populations with the 454 and Solexa, so as to information into the history and migrations of human populations. Meanwhile, with the higher coverage sequencing, new insights into heteroplasmy (the presence of a mixture of more than one type of mtDNA within a cell or individual) will be investigated, such as the frequency of  heteroplasmy, where mutations happen and how they spread in the populations,etc.

I am also interested in the effect of different processes that acting on patterns of genetic variation both within and between species, like mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and recombination.

Contact:

Mingkun Li

mingkun_lieva.mpg.de