Fig. 1

The human mtDNA and its mRNAs. The double-stranded circular mtDNA of the human [1] is linearly expressed and genes contained therein are shown as columns that do not accurately reflect their actual sizes. Gene abbreviations are the following: 12S and 16S, 12S and 16S rRNAs (green columns); ND1–6 and 4 L, NADH dehydrogenase subunits 1–6 and 4 L (blue columns); CO1–3, cytochrome oxidase subunits I-III (orange columns); ATP6 and ATP8, ATP synthase subunits 6 and 8 (violet columns); and CYTB, cytochrome b (red column). Transfer RNA genes are indicated as corresponding one-letter amino acids and the major non-coding region is abbreviated as MNCR. The arrows show the encoded direction of protein and rRNA genes. Transfer RNA genes over the column stand for H-strand-encoded ones, whereas those under the column show L-strand-encoded ones. Ranges for H-strand-transcribed mRNAs [7, 34] are shown by horizontal arrows with numbers in the original literature. A range for non-polyadenylated ND6 mRNA [11] is also shown by a reverse horizontal arrow