UNIPARENTAL INHERITANCE OF MITOCHONDRIAL AND CHLOROPLAST GENES - MECHANISMS AND EVOLUTION

Authors
Citation
Cw. Birky, UNIPARENTAL INHERITANCE OF MITOCHONDRIAL AND CHLOROPLAST GENES - MECHANISMS AND EVOLUTION, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 92(25), 1995, pp. 11331-11338
Citations number
96
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ISSN journal
00278424
Volume
92
Issue
25
Year of publication
1995
Pages
11331 - 11338
Database
ISI
SICI code
0027-8424(1995)92:25<11331:UIOMAC>2.0.ZU;2-7
Abstract
In nearly all eukaryotes, at least some individuals inherit mitochondr ial and chloroplast genes from only one parent. There is no single mec hanism of uniparental inheritance: organelle gene inheritance is block ed by a variety of mechanisms and at different stages of reproduction in different species. Frequent changes in the pattern of organelle gen e inheritance during evolution suggest that it is subject to varying s elective pressures. Organelle genes often fail to recombine even when inherited biparentally; consequently, their inheritance is asexual. Se xual reproduction is apparently less important for genes in organelles than for nuclear genes, probably because there are fewer of them. As a result organelle sex can be lost because of selection for special re productive features such as oogamy or because uniparental inheritance reduces the spread of cytoplasmic parasites and selfish organelle DNA.