Development of a molecular assay to estimate mitochondrial content in cattle tissues

A qRT-PCR assay was developed to estimate cattle mitochondrial content by counting copies of mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) relative to nDNA. Out of a set of competing primer pairs designed and tested in cattle tissues it was found that the preferred primer pair (mitochondrially encoded NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase core subunit 1 or MT-ND1, and wnt1-inducible signalling pathway protein 1 or WISP) amplified unique products with high PCR efficiency (>95%). The MT-ND1 and WISP primer pair combination suggested the following rank order of tissues with increasing aerobic capacity in cattle; white fat