A large part of replication is aborted in human mitochondria, the result being a D-loop. As few attempts have been made to distinguish free 5 ends of true replicate from those of abortive ones, we examined the 5 ends of true replicate of human mitochondrial DNA at one nucleotide resolution in vivo by making use of ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction. The distribution and relative amounts of origins of the true replicate are exactly the same as those of total newly synthesized heavy strands, which means that the abortion of replication is independent of 5 ends. Treatment of DNA with RNase H frees 5 ends on both heavy and light strands. This is the first in vivo evidence for covalently attached primer RNA to nascent strand in human mitochondrial DNA.Replication of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) begins with synthesis of the heavy strand (H strand) 1 from the replication origin O H , following transcription of the light strand (L strand). Transcription of the L strand is regulated by the L strand promoter (LSP) sequence. When synthesis of the H strand has proceeded about two-thirds, synthesis of the L strand begins from replication origin O L . Thus, the total replication rate of mtDNA is determined by H strand synthesis (for reviews, see Refs. 1-3). The multiple replication origins of human mitochondrial H and L strands have been determined as free 5Ј ends of mtDNA extracted from prepared mitochondria. The molecular mechanism and physiological significance of these events are poorly understood.A large part of the synthesis of H strand is aborted, leaving a displacement loop ((D-loop) or 7 S DNA). For example, over 95% of the newly synthesized H strand is a D-loop in the case of mouse L cells (4). This makes it difficult to precisely determine origins of the true replication form (nascent H strand) (5). Few investigators have distinguished the free 5Ј end of the true replicate form from that of the D-loop even though selective detection of the free 5Ј end of the true replicate form is critical to determine replication origin. Although the 5Ј ends of the nascent H strand are suggested to be the same as those of D-loop in human mitochondria (5), it is uncertain whether the distribution and relative amount of the 5Ј ends of nascent H strand are exactly the same as those of the D-loop. In addition, the free 5Ј ends of human mtDNA are not set at one nucleotide resolution (6). To precisely determine the replication origin but not the simple free 5Ј end, it is required to selectively detect the replication origin at a higher resolution.We made use of the ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LMPCR) to detect free 5Ј ends (7,8), an approach which makes feasible use of total DNA extracted directly from whole cells. By selective amplification of nascent H (not D-loop), we determined precise and comprehensive replication origins of the H strand in vivo. Here, we describe sites of free 5Ј ends and the transition sites of RNA to DNA for both H and L strands at one nucleotide resolution.