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Paternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in mice

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Abstract

FOR nearly 20 years it has been assumed on the basis of low-resolution experiments that mitochondrial (mt)DNA, in contrast to the genes in the nucleus, has an exclusively maternal mode of inheritance in animals1. Using the polymerase chain reaction2, 3, paternally inherited mtDNA molecules have now been detected in mice at a frequency of 10−4, relative to the maternal contributions. These mice were hybrids between two inbred strains (C57BL/6J and Mus spretus) whose mtDNAs can be distinguished easily. This new mode of inheritance provides a mechanism for generating heteroplasmy and may explain mitochondrial disorders exhibiting biparental transmission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics, Biomedical Center, University of Uppsala, Box 589, S-751 23, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ulf Gyllensten & Agneta Josefsson

  2. New York Zoological Society, Bronx Zoo, New York, 10460

    Dan Wharton

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, 10458, USA

    Dan Wharton

  4. Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    Allan C. Wilson

Authors
  1. Ulf Gyllensten
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  2. Dan Wharton
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  3. Agneta Josefsson
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  4. Allan C. Wilson
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Gyllensten, U., Wharton, D., Josefsson, A. et al. Paternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in mice. Nature 352, 255–257 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/352255a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/352255a0

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