What is the difference between mitochondrial dna and nuclear dna

Research conducted by scientists at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology is the first to show that the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes co-evolved to independently cross-regulate each other. Understanding how intracellular DNA communication is hardwired into the cell will lead more researchers to appreciate the coordination of genes encoded in both genomes and their role in aging and disease, said Changhan David Lee , assistant professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School and senior author of the study.

The study appears in the journal Cell Metabolism. Knowing intimately how cells operate could lead to greater understanding of age-related disease and, perhaps one day, new mitochondria-based treatments. Prescription drugs today are designed based on the blueprint encoded in the nuclear genome, scientists say. Now we can fight these diseases with all our genetic components.

The field of intracellular communication is relatively recent — emerging and accelerating in the past decade. As medical equipment becomes more incisive, scientists can better detect small things, so even tiny genes inside a cell get more study. USC researchers focused on the two parts of the cell that carry DNA: the nucleus and the mitochondria. Most genetic material resides in the nucleus, which is the largest component of the cell.

Its DNA sends coded templates telling the cell what to do. Mitochondria is the source of the energy of our cells. The number of mitochondria varies from cell to cell. In other words, cells that are capable to execute more energy contain more mitochondria than those cells that require lesser energy to perform.

If we magnify the structure of mitochondria we can see it consists of an outer membrane, an inner membrane. Inside the inner membrane, we find DNA as well as ribosomes.

Due to the presence of ribosomes protein factories and DNA within the mitochondria, it can initiate protein synthesis. Genetic materials are present in the nucleus of the cell, while here we find mitochondria have their DNA genetic pieces of information.

Thus mitochondria can replicate themselves. Evolution which took place 1. The theory of endosymbiosis states that initially, mitochondria was a prokaryotic cell. When the prokaryotic cell was engulfed by the eukaryotic cell, a symbiotic relationship was established between them. The mitochondrial DNA is circular. The mitochondrial DNA is sixteen thousand letters long. Mitochondrial DNA is composed of light and heavy strands. Our body is made up of billions of cells, an animal cell lacks a cell wall.

Mitochondria consists of multiple mtDNA molecules. A single cell may contain more than of mitochondria. Therefore, per cell, more than 1, copies of mtDNA can be found. The number of mtDNA copies per cell depends on the number of mtDNA copies per mitochondria as well as the size and the number of mitochondria per cell.

It is composed of around 0. The DNA in the mitochondrion is shown in figure 1. Figure 1: DNA in the Mitochondrion. Thirty-seven genes are found encoded in mtDNA. These genes are encoded for the proteins required by the functions inside mitochondria as well as the required tRNA s and rRNAs by mitochondria, especially for the protein synthesis.

The polypeptides synthesized inside mitochondria are subunits, which form the multimeric complexes used either in ATP synthesis or electron transport. In yeast, inheritance of mitochondria is biparental. The mtDNA consists of a maternal lineage of inheritance in humans. Little or no cytoplasm is contributed to the zygote by the sperm in mammals. Therefore, in the embryo , almost all the mitochondria are derived from the ovum. In plants, the inheritance of mtDNA is the same as in mammals.

Hence, diseases associated with mtDNA is gained by maternal inheritance. Large deletions in mtDNA cause Kearns-Sayre syndrome and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia. Circular mtDNA is shown in figure 2. Figure 2: Mitochondrial DNA. The nDNA is located in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell. It is composed of