Structural characteristics of the Relict Gull (Larus relictus) mitochondrial DNA control region and its comparison to other Laridae.

The structure of the mitochondrial DNA control region in the Relict Gull (Larus relictus) was predicted and compared with data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on five other gulls. The results showed that the control regions of the six gulls comprise three domains. Sequences of CSB-1-like (domain I) and CSB-1 (domain III) in L. relictus have the highest similarity with those in the other five gulls. The insertion fragments are located in downstream domain I of L. ridibundus, L. brunnicephalus, and L. saundersi. Seven conserved sequence boxes (additional box, F-box, E-box, D-box, C-box, bird-similarity-box, and B-box) are located in domain II in all six gulls. It is suggested that the CSB-2/3 sequence, the origin of H-strand replication, and bidirectional light- and heavy-strand transcription promoters in domain III of L. relictus have some distinguishing features to those of other gulls. Some repeat units are contained in the 3' end of the control region in the five gulls; however, no repeat units are found in the sequence CAAACAACAAA in L. relictus. The distribution of nucleotide diversity analysis will provide the useful information on the selected DNA fragment within the control region for genetic analyses among gulls.