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Comment
. 2015 May 14;11(5):e1005179.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005179. eCollection 2015 May.

Keeping in shape the dogma of mitochondrial DNA maternal inheritance

Valerio Carelli  1
Affiliations
Comment

Keeping in shape the dogma of mitochondrial DNA maternal inheritance

Valerio Carelli. PLoS Genet. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Schematic representation of the two models, “active elimination” and “dilution” of paternal mtDNA haplotypes, with multiple possible steps that ensure avoidance of paternal mtDNA inheritance.
A first step for which there is evidence of reduction of mtDNA copy number is at the level of spermatogenesis and prefertilization sperm [,–26]. Postfertilization, according to the “dilution” model, the low levels of paternal mtDNA haplotypes may be evenly distributed among tissues, but the study by Pyle and colleagues finds no evidence of such a “dilution” [21]. Alternatively, if mtDNA haplotypes are unevenly distributed among the tissues of the newborn [20], or shift in an age and tissue-dependent fashion [22], there remains a possibility that paternal mtDNA is detectable only in certain tissues. The “active elimination” model, currently more supported by experimental evidence, may execute the paternal mtDNA elimination through multiple possible mechanisms, which are summarized in Fig 1. These include ubiquitination and active elimination of paternal mitochondria and mtDNA by proteasomal and lysosomal pathways [14], selective mitophagy of paternal mitochondria [18,19], or direct degradation of paternal mtDNA [28].
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