An intense debate has developed over recent years over whether recombination occurs in mitochondrial DNA. Although recombination has never been directly observed in human mtDNA, two instances suggesting recombination may have occurred have been observed. Each of these instances has given rise to different interpretations and opposing potential explanations; the responses have been inconsistent and used different data sets as well as different methods for detecting recombination. A paper currently published online in Heredity by Piganeau and Eyre-Walker extensively reanalyses the existing data as well as new, recently published data, using two standardised tests. Their conclusions suggest that recombination does not occur in human mtDNA.

original article
A reanalysis of the indirect evidence for recombination in human mitochondrial DNA
G PIGANEAU and A EYRE-WALKER
Heredity Advanced online publication; January 2004
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