Single-step method for the determination of the amount of the common deletion in mitochondrial DNA

A Florescent-based quantitative PCR assay to measure the percentage of the common deletion in rat mitochondria is reported. The amount of the common d eletion is measured relative to the amount of total mitochondrial (mt)DNA. The use of a heterologous competitor construct allows the reaction to be mo nitored to ensure that exponential accumulation of products occurs. The use of fluorescence-labeled primers provides a safe and sensitive means to qua ntify products without any adjustment for size. This assay will allow the q uantitative determination of the common deletion with one dilution range.