Uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial and chloroplast genes: mechanisms and evolution.
Open accessAbstract
In nearly all eukaryotes, at least some individuals inherit mitochondrial and chloroplast genes from only one parent. There is no single mechanism of uniparental inheritance: organelle gene inheritance is blocked by a variety of mechanisms and at different stages of reproduction in different species. Frequent changes in the pattern of organelle gene inheritance during evolution suggest that it is subject to varying selective pressures. Organelle genes often fail to recombine even when inherited biparentally; consequently, their inheritance is asexual. Sexual 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 reproductive features such as oogamy or because uniparental inheritance reduces the spread of cytoplasmic parasites and selfish organelle DNA.
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Females' gametes transmit all their resources, i.e., their energy stores, their cytosol, and their mitochondria.
“Thus, from the beginning of reproduction, a major sex asymmetry is present, the fact that females’ gametes transmit all their resources, i.e., their energy stores, their cytosol, and their mitochondria (Fig. 1).”
From Sex differences in metabolic homeostasis, diabetes, and obesity (2015) · cites this paper as [5]
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- Authors
- Birky, C. W.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Birky, C W
- ORCID
- Birky, C W
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 1995-12-05
- Volume
- 92
- Issue
- 25
- Pages
- 11331-11338
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC40394
- OpenAlex
- W2152321288
- Cited by
- 969
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 11.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Keywords
- uniparental inheritance, mitochondrial DNA, chloroplast DNA, organelle inheritance, cytoplasmic inheritance, selfish DNA, oogamy, recombination, sexual reproduction
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Chloroplasts, Eukaryotic Cells, Biological Evolution, Extrachromosomal Inheritance, Fungi, Mitochondria, Models, Genetic, Plants, Eukaryota
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