摘要
Novel pseudogenes homologous to the mitochondrial(mt) 16S rRNA gene were detected via different approaches. Eight pseudogenes were sequenced. Copynumber polymorphism of the mtDNA pseudogenes wasobserved among randomly chosen individuals, and evenamong siblings. A mtDNA pseudogene in the Ychromosome was observed in a YAC clone carrying onlyrepetitive sequence tag site (STS). PCR screening of human yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) libraries showedthat there were at least 5.7×105 hp of the mtDNA pseudogenes in each haploid nuclear genome. Possible involvement of the mtDNA pseudogenes in the variable part ofthe human nuclear genome is discussed.