ARE MITOCHONDRIA INHERITED PATERNALLY IN ASCARIS

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is finding increasing usage as a tool for st udying the systematics, population genetics and epidemiology of parasi tic helminths, and is generally assumed to be inherited maternally. Ye t two features of Ascaris biology-fertilization by large amoeboid sper m and some novel aspects of sperm mitochondria-suggest a paternal comp onent to mitochondrial inheritance in this organism. In this study, se compare mtDNA restriction patterns of parental worms with those of th eir progeny but find no evidence for paternal inheritance. We suggest that sperm-derived mitochondria are actively destroyed or outcompeted by maternal organelles in the zygote.