How is Mitochondrial DNA different than DNA in the cell’s nucleus?
Mitochondrial DNA is passed on through the egg cell therefore only through the female line.Mitochondrial DNA is the remains of a symbiont adopted by all organisms that utilize oxygen. Its ability to efficiently metabolize oxygen assisted primitive organisms to achieve a high metabolic rate and develop faster and more energetic motion.
mitochondrial DNA is circular like bacterial DNA. DNA in cells is double helical. It is thought that DNA in mitochondria originally is from parasites who found their way into cells millions of years ago, possibly as viruses… and they reproduced never losing their genetic info… that is why mitochondrial DNA is circular still. Also, mitochondrial DNA contains only Mother’s genetic info, interestingly enough, and it is well preserved over generations… so one can find if they study mitochondrial DNA, things like what race or what people they came from originally, 10000 years ago, etc.
There are four main differences between mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) and the nuclear DNA 1. In mt DNA, dense gene packaging is seen while in nuclear DNA it is not seen 2. Relaxed codon-anticodon pairing occurs in mt DNA, therefore voilating the wobble hypothesis. While in nuclear DNA, wobble hypothesis is observed 3. mt DNA do not follow Universal Genetic Code Codon – Universal Genetic Code – mt UGA – Start Codon – Tryptophan AGA – Arginine – STOP codon AGG – Arginine – STOP codon AUA – Isoleucine – Methionine 4.
