Mitochondrial inheritance

Mitochondrial inheritance is the transmission of DNA carried by mitochondria across generations. In humans, it is usually maternal because mitochondria in sperm generally do not contribute to the embryo.

Mitochondrial DNA: DNA in mitochondria that encodes some components of cellular energy production. This is the genetic material transmitted through mitochondrial inheritance.
Mitochondrion: A cell organelle that produces much of the energy used by eukaryotic cells. Mitochondrial DNA is housed in this organelle.
Mitochondrial genealogy: The use of mitochondrial DNA to investigate maternal-line relationships and ancestry. Maternal transmission allows mitochondrial lineages to be followed across generations.
Mendelian inheritance: The transmission of nuclear alleles through segregation and recombination across generations. Its biparental, allele-based patterns differ from mitochondrial transmission.
Paternal mitochondrial DNA elimination: Cellular processes that prevent sperm-derived mitochondria or their DNA from persisting after fertilization. Their operation helps account for maternal inheritance, though details vary across organisms.
Oocyte: An immature egg cell that can mature and be fertilized. The egg supplies nearly all mitochondria to a human embryo.
Organelle DNA: Genetic material located in cellular organelles rather than the nucleus. Mitochondrial inheritance is one form of organelle DNA transmission.
Mitochondrial disease: A disorder caused by impaired mitochondrial function, sometimes due to mitochondrial DNA variants. Inheritance patterns help assess how mitochondrial variants may pass within families.
Chloroplast inheritance: The transmission of chloroplast genetic material across generations in plants and algae. It provides another case of inheritance from DNA-bearing organelles.
Doubly uniparental inheritance: An inheritance system in some bivalves where distinct mitochondrial lineages pass through females and males. It shows that mitochondrial transmission need not be exclusively maternal.

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