Mitochondrial Origins of Human Nuclear Genes and DNA Sequences

William F Martin, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Published online: December 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0006113.pub2

The human genome contains approximately 300 segments of mitochondrial DNA greater than 100 bp in length that were integrated during evolutionarily recent time into the nuclear chromosomes. The total number of genes encoding functional proteins in the human genome that ultimately stem from the ancestral mitochondrial genome is currently unknown, but it probably comprises a very substantial fraction of the genome.

Keywords: evolution; endosymbiosis; gene transfer; mitochondria; chloroplasts

Figure 1. Recently transferred mtDNA fragments in the human genome identified by Mourier et al. (2001). (a) Length distribution of mtDNA fragments of more than 100 bp in length, tallied in bins of 500 bp. (b) Frequency distribution of sequence identity between mtDNA fragments and genuine human mtDNA. (c) Frequency distribution of mtDNA fragments per chromosome.
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 Web Links
    ePath BioMed Central http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/1/4

Related Sub-Topics:

Evolutionary Genomics | Molecular Evolution | Human Evolution | Chromosomes and Chromatin Modifications | Evolution of Coding and Functional Modules
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Article Title: Mitochondrial Origins of Human Nuclear Genes and DNA Sequences
 
How to Cite close
Martin, William F(Dec 2007) Mitochondrial Origins of Human Nuclear Genes and DNA Sequences. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0006113.pub2]