20 Facts About Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Mitochondrial DNA is only a small portion of the DNA in a eukaryotic cell; most of the DNA can be found in the cell nucleus and, in plants and algae, in plastids such as chloroplasts.

Human mitochondrial DNA was the first significant part of the human genome to be sequenced.

Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are thought to be of separate evolutionary origin, with the mtDNA being derived from the circular genomes of bacteria engulfed by the early ancestors of today's eukaryotic cells.

One of these unique types is a heterogeneous collection of circular Mitochondrial DNA molecules while the other is a heterogeneous collection of linear molecules (type 6).

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Mitochondrial DNA is replicated by the DNA polymerase gamma complex which is composed of a 140 kDa catalytic DNA polymerase encoded by the POLG gene and two 55 kDa accessory subunits encoded by the POLG2 gene.

Two strands of the human mitochondrial DNA are distinguished as the heavy strand and the light strand.

Whatever the mechanism, this single parent pattern of mtMitochondrial DNA inheritance is found in most animals, most plants and in fungi.

Fact that mitochondrial DNA is mostly maternally inherited enables genealogical researchers to trace maternal lineage far back in time.

The concept of the Mitochondrial DNA Eve is based on the same type of analysis, attempting to discover the origin of humanity by tracking the lineage back in time.

The bottleneck exploits random processes in the cell to increase the cell-to-cell variability in mutant load as an organism develops: a single egg cell with some proportion of mutant mtMitochondrial DNA thus produces an embryo in which different cells have different mutant loads.

Male mitochondrial DNA inheritance has been discovered in Plymouth Rock chickens.

Concept that mtMitochondrial DNA is particularly susceptible to reactive oxygen species generated by the respiratory chain due to its proximity remains controversial.

Recently a mutation in mtMitochondrial DNA has been used to help diagnose prostate cancer in patients with negative prostate biopsy.

Mitochondrial DNA oxidation product 8-oxoguanine is a well-established marker of oxidative Mitochondrial DNA damage.

Unlike nuclear Mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from both parents and in which genes are rearranged in the process of recombination, there is usually no change in mtMitochondrial DNA from parent to offspring.

Mitochondrial DNA was admitted into evidence for the first time ever in a United States courtroom in 1996 during State of Tennessee v Paul Ware.

Mitochondrial DNA was first admitted into evidence in California, United States, in the successful prosecution of David Westerfield for the 2002 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in San Diego: it was used for both human and dog identification.

MtMitochondrial DNA is conserved across eukaryotic organism given the critical role of mitochondria in cellular respiration.

Mitochondrial DNA was discovered in the 1960s by Margit M K Nass and Sylvan Nass by electron microscopy as DNase-sensitive threads inside mitochondria, and by Ellen Haslbrunner, Hans Tuppy and Gottfried Schatz by biochemical assays on highly purified mitochondrial fractions.