mitochondrial dna

2 2 plants and fungi.

Mitochondrial dna. Technically the term mitochondrial dna encompasses not only the mitochondrial genome per se but additional dna types e g small linear plasmid like dnas that are present in the mitochondria of some organisms. Mitochondrial dna contains 37 genes all of which are essential for normal mitochondrial function. What is mitochondrial dna. This genetic material is known as mitochondrial dna or mtdna.

Mitochondrial dna a special type of dna that tells the direct line story of your mother s mother s mother s heritage all the way back as far as we can go beyond genealogy to the woman from whom we are all descended that we call mitochondrial eve. Mitochondrial dna unlike nuclear dna is inherited from the mother while nuclear dna is inherited from both parents. Mitochondria are found in all complex or eukaryotic cells including plant animal fungi and single celled protists which contain their own mtdna genome. Mitochondrial genetic disorders can be caused by changes mutations in either the mitochondrial dna or nuclear dna that lead to dysfunction of the mitochondria.

Mitochondrial dna mtdna is a type of dna located outside the nucleus in the liquid portion of the cell cytoplasm and inside cellular organelles called mitochondria. The dna inside of mitochondria called mtdna is unlike the dna inside the nucleus in that all of it comes from our mothers. And if there s a defect in some of those mitochondrial dna bases that is to say a mutation you will have a mitochondrial disease which will involve the inability to produce sufficient energy in things like the muscle and the brain and the kidney. Mitochondrial dna is inherited directly from your matrilineal line only meaning your mother s mother s mother s mother on up your family tree until you run out of direct line mothers that you ve identified.

Mitochondrial dna mtdna is the physical embodiment of the genetic information encoded in the mitochondrion. In other words unlike the dna inside the nucleus it is not a mixture of our parent s dna and each person s mtdna is nearly identical to his or her mother s mtdna.