Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of (Chinese cabbage and mizuna), and intraspecific differentiation of cytoplasm in and .

The complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome was determined for two cultivars of . After determining the sequence of a Chinese cabbage variety, 'Oushou hakusai', the sequence of a mizuna variety, 'Chusei shiroguki sensuji kyomizuna', was mapped against the sequence of Chinese cabbage. The precise sequences where the two varieties demonstrated variation were ascertained by direct sequencing. It was found that the mitochondrial genomes of the two varieties are identical over 219,775 bp, with a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) between the genomes. Because is the maternal species of an amphidiploid crop species, , the distribution of the SNP was observed both in and . While the mizuna type SNP was restricted mainly to cultivars of mizuna (japonica group) in , the mizuna type was widely distributed in . The finding that the two species have these SNP types in common suggests that the nucleotide substitution occurred in wild before both mitotypes were domesticated. It was further inferred that the interspecific hybridization between and took place twice and resulted in the two mitotypes of cultivated .