Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1983 Apr;80(7):1969–1971. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.7.1969

Critical experimental test of the possibility of "paternal leakage" of mitochondrial DNA.

R A Lansman, J C Avise, M D Huettel
PMCID: PMC393733  PMID: 6300883

Abstract

Most previous data suggesting maternal inheritance of mtDNA have come from single-generation mating experiments, and most of the analytical techniques utilized would not have detected paternal mtDNA molecules in progeny at levels less than about 5%. Long-term mating experiments, in which a fertile female lineage derived from hybridization of two species with distinguishable mtDNAs is backcrossed recurrently to the male parental species, provide an ideal opportunity to assess possible low-level paternal leakage. We have analyzed the 45- and 91-generation backcross progeny of such matings between two species of lepidopteran insects [Heliothis (Noctuidae)], using autoradiographic techniques that can detect rare mtDNA molecules in less than 1 part per 500. The analysis failed to detect any paternal mtDNA and sets an upper limit of paternal leakage at about 1 molecule per 25,000 per generation in this system.

Full text

PDF
1969

Images in this article

1970Image
on p.1970

Selected References

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

  1. Avise J. C., Giblin-Davidson C., Laerm J., Patton J. C., Lansman R. A. Mitochondrial DNA clones and matriarchal phylogeny within and among geographic populations of the pocket gopher, Geomys pinetis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Dec;76(12):6694–6698. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.12.6694. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Avise J. C., Lansman R. A., Shade R. O. The use of restriction endonucleases to measure mitochondrial DNA sequence relatedness in natural populations. I. Population structure and evolution in the genus Peromyscus. Genetics. 1979 May;92(1):279–295. doi: 10.1093/genetics/92.1.279. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brown G. G., Simpson M. V. Intra- and interspecific variation of the mitochondrial genome in Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus: restriction enzyme analysis of variant mitochondrial DNA molecules and their evolutionary relationships. Genetics. 1981 Jan;97(1):125–143. doi: 10.1093/genetics/97.1.125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brown W. M., George M., Jr, Wilson A. C. Rapid evolution of animal mitochondrial DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Apr;76(4):1967–1971. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.4.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown W. M. Polymorphism in mitochondrial DNA of humans as revealed by restriction endonuclease analysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Jun;77(6):3605–3609. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.6.3605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brown W. M., Wright J. W. Mitochondrial DNA analyses and the origin and relative age of parthenogenetic lizards (genus Cnemidophorus). Science. 1979 Mar 23;203(4386):1247–1249. doi: 10.1126/science.424751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Buzzo K., Fouts D. L., Wolstenholme D. R. EcoRI cleavage site variants of mitochondrial DNA molecules from rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Feb;75(2):909–913. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.2.909. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chapman R. W., Stephens J. C., Lansman R. A., Avise J. C. Models of mitochondrial DNA transmission genetics and evolution in higher eucaryotes. Genet Res. 1982 Aug;40(1):41–57. doi: 10.1017/s0016672300018899. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dawid I. B., Blackler A. W. Maternal and cytoplasmic inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in Xenopus. Dev Biol. 1972 Oct;29(2):152–161. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(72)90052-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. De Francesco L., Attardi G., Croce C. M. Uniparental propagation of mitochondrial DNA in mouse-human cell hybrids. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Jul;77(7):4079–4083. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.7.4079. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Francisco J. F., Brown G. G., Simpson M. V. Further studies on types A and B rat mtDNAs: cleavage maps and evidence for cytoplasmic inheritance in mammals. Plasmid. 1979 Jul;2(3):426–436. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(79)90026-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Giles R. E., Blanc H., Cann H. M., Wallace D. C. Maternal inheritance of human mitochondrial DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Nov;77(11):6715–6719. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.11.6715. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hayashi J. I., Yonekawa H., Gotoh O., Watanabe J., Tagashira Y. Strictly maternal inheritance of rat mitochondrial DNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1978 Aug 14;83(3):1032–1038. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(78)91499-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hutchison C. A., 3rd, Newbold J. E., Potter S. S., Edgell M. H. Maternal inheritance of mammalian mitochondrial DNA. Nature. 1974 Oct 11;251(5475):536–538. doi: 10.1038/251536a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Timothy D. H., Levings C. S., Pring D. R., Conde M. F., Kermicle J. L. Organelle DNA variation and systematic relationships in the genus Zea: Teosinte. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Sep;76(9):4220–4224. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.9.4220. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Upholt W. B., Dawid I. B. Mapping of mitochondrial DNA of individual sheep and goats: rapid evolution in the D loop region. Cell. 1977 Jul;11(3):571–583. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90075-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ursprung H., Schabtach E. Fertilization in tunicates: loss of the paternal mitochondrion prior to sperm entry. J Exp Zool. 1965 Aug;159(3):379–383. doi: 10.1002/jez.1401590310. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ziegler M. L., Davidson R. L. Elimination of mitochondrial elements and improved viability in hybrid cells. Somatic Cell Genet. 1981 Jan;7(1):73–88. doi: 10.1007/BF01544749. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES