Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1998 Jan;148(1):341–347. doi: 10.1093/genetics/148.1.341

The fate of paternal mitochondrial DNA in developing female mussels, Mytilus edulis: implications for the mechanism of doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA.

B Sutherland 1, D Stewart 1, E R Kenchington 1, E Zouros 1
PMCID: PMC1459795  PMID: 9475744

Abstract

Species of the marine mussel family Mytilidae have two types of mitochondrial DNA: one that is transmitted from the mother to both female and male offspring (the F type) and one that is transmitted from the father to sons only (the M type). By using pair matings that produce only female offspring or a mixture of female and male offspring and a pair of oligonucleotide primers that amplify part of the COIII gene of the M but not the F mitochondrial genome, we demonstrate that both male and female embryos receive M mtDNA through the sperm and that within 24 hr after fertilization the M mtDNA is eliminated or is drastically reduced in female embryos but maintained in male embryos. These observations are important for understanding the relationship between mtDNA transmission and sex determination in species with doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (156.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Gyllensten U., Wharton D., Josefsson A., Wilson A. C. Paternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in mice. Nature. 1991 Jul 18;352(6332):255–257. doi: 10.1038/352255a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Hoeh W. R., Stewart D. T., Saavedra C., Sutherland B. W., Zouros E. Phylogenetic evidence for role-reversals of gender-associated mitochondrial DNA in Mytilus (Bivalvia: Mytilidae). Mol Biol Evol. 1997 Sep;14(9):959–967. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025839. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hoeh W. R., Stewart D. T., Sutherland B. W., Zouros E. Cytochrome c oxidase sequence comparisons suggest an unusually high rate of mitochondrial DNA evolution in Mytilus (Mollusca: Bivalvia) Mol Biol Evol. 1996 Feb;13(2):418–421. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025600. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Kondo R., Satta Y., Matsuura E. T., Ishiwa H., Takahata N., Chigusa S. I. Incomplete maternal transmission of mitochondrial DNA in Drosophila. Genetics. 1990 Nov;126(3):657–663. doi: 10.1093/genetics/126.3.657. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Longo F. J., Dornfeld E. J. The fine structure of spermatid differentiation in the mussel, Mytilus edulis. J Ultrastruct Res. 1967 Oct 31;20(5):462–480. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5320(67)80113-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Miller S. A., Dykes D. D., Polesky H. F. A simple salting out procedure for extracting DNA from human nucleated cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Feb 11;16(3):1215–1215. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.3.1215. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Rawson P. D., Secor C. L., Hilbish T. J. The effects of natural hybridization on the regulation of doubly uniparental mtDNA inheritance in blue mussels (Mytilus spp.). Genetics. 1996 Sep;144(1):241–248. doi: 10.1093/genetics/144.1.241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Saavedra C., Reyero M. I., Zouros E. Male-dependent doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA and female-dependent sex-ratio in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. Genetics. 1997 Apr;145(4):1073–1082. doi: 10.1093/genetics/145.4.1073. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Skibinski D. O., Gallagher C., Beynon C. M. Mitochondrial DNA inheritance. Nature. 1994 Apr 28;368(6474):817–818. doi: 10.1038/368817b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Skibinski D. O., Gallagher C., Beynon C. M. Sex-limited mitochondrial DNA transmission in the marine mussel Mytilus edulis. Genetics. 1994 Nov;138(3):801–809. doi: 10.1093/genetics/138.3.801. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stewart D. T., Saavedra C., Stanwood R. R., Ball A. O., Zouros E. Male and female mitochondrial DNA lineages in the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) species group. Mol Biol Evol. 1995 Sep;12(5):735–747. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040252. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Xam-Mar Peña J. Deformaciones de la nariz en el recien nacido. An Otorrinolaringol Ibero Am. 1976;3(3):334–337. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Zouros E., Ball A. O., Saavedra C., Freeman K. R. Mitochondrial DNA inheritance. Nature. 1994 Apr 28;368(6474):818–818. doi: 10.1038/368818a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Zouros E., Freeman K. R., Ball A. O., Pogson G. H. Direct evidence for extensive paternal mitochondrial DNA inheritance in the marine mussel Mytilus. Nature. 1992 Oct 1;359(6394):412–414. doi: 10.1038/359412a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Zouros E., Oberhauser Ball A., Saavedra C., Freeman K. R. An unusual type of mitochondrial DNA inheritance in the blue mussel Mytilus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Aug 2;91(16):7463–7467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.16.7463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES