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by kuyakev on April 5th, 2007

kuyakev

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Why do you get mitochondria only from your mother's cells and not your fathers?

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  • by Gracin the Strange on April 5th, 2007

    Gracin the Strange

    Mitochondrial genes are not inherited by the same mechanism as nuclear genes. At fertilization of an egg by a sperm, the egg nucleus and sperm nucleus each contribute equally to the genetic makeup of the zygote nucleus. In contrast, the mitochondria, and therefore the mitochondrial DNA, usually comes from the egg only. The sperm's mitochondria enters the egg, but are almost always destroyed and do not contribute their genes to the embryo.[17] Paternal sperm mitochondria are marked with ubiquitin to select them for later destruction inside the embryo.[18] The egg contains relatively few mitochondria, but it is these mitochondria that survive and divide to populate the cells of the adult organism. Mitochondria are, therefore, in most cases inherited down the female line.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondria

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