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Direct evidence for extensive paternal mitochondrial DNA inheritance in the marine mussel Mytilus

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Abstract

INHERITANCE of mitochondrial DNA in animals was thought to be strictly maternal1,2. Recently, evidence for incidental paternal mtDNA leakage was obtained in hybrid crosses of Drosophila3,4 and mice5. In mice, the frequency of paternal mtDNA contributions was estimated at 10−4, compared with maternal contributions. The common occurrence in the marine mussel Mytilus of heteroplasmic individuals with two or more types of highly diverged mtDNA molecules was interpreted as strong evidence for biparental mtDNA inheritance by some6, but not by others7. We report here results from pair-matings involving two species of mussels, Mytilus edulis and Mytilus trossulus. Extensive contribution of paternal mtDNA, amounting to several orders of magnitude higher than that inferred for Drosophila or mice, was observed in both intra-and interspecific crosses.

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Author notes

  1. Grant H. Pogson

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Marine Gene Probe Laboratory, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4J1, Canada

    Eleftherios Zouros, Amy Oberhauser Ball & Grant H. Pogson

  2. Department of Biology, University of Crete and Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, Iraklion, Crete, Greece

    Eleftherios Zouros

  3. Halifax Fisheries Research Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, PO Box 550, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 2S7, Canada

    Kenneth R. Freeman

Authors
  1. Eleftherios Zouros
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  2. Kenneth R. Freeman
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  3. Amy Oberhauser Ball
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  4. Grant H. Pogson
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Zouros, E., Freeman, K., Ball, A. et al. Direct evidence for extensive paternal mitochondrial DNA inheritance in the marine mussel Mytilus. Nature 359, 412–414 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359412a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/359412a0

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