Peculiarities of the of mitochondrial inheritance

Mitochondrial inheritance The transmission of the mitochondrial genome from mother to child. Mitochondria contain their own set of genes which are chiefly involved in metabolic processes. This is in addition to the genes in the cell’s nucleus. Alterations in the mitochondrial DNA cause several well recognised disorders, often associated with neuromuscular features. Because of how mitochondria are inherited, conditions due to a mutation in mitochondrial DNA show a very particular pattern of inheritance. Mitochondria are inherited only in the maternal ova and not in sperm. Therefore, a pattern of inheritance associated with alterations in mitochondrial DNA gives a pattern of the condition affecting males and females, but always being maternally inherited. An affected male does not pass on his mitochondria to his children, so all his children will be unaffected. This is called mitochondrial (sometimes matrilineal) inheritance. It is known that there are some mitochondrial conditions associated with incorrectly functioning mitochondria where the mutation is not in the mitochondrial DNA, but in genes in the cell nucleus that control functions in the mitochondria. It is therefore possible for a mitochondrial condition not to show mitochondrial inheritance but to show Mendelian inheritance. #Mitochondria #DNA #genes #MendelianInheritance #genetics #biology