Intramitochondrial recombination - is it why some mitochondrial genes sleep around?
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 7, 2026

Preparation of the Mgm101 Recombination Protein by MBP-based Tagging Strategy
Published on: June 25, 2013
Abstract:
A new paper by Kajander et al. undermines the general view that mitochondria do not recombine. The authors discovered the existence of 'sublimons', rearranged mitochondrial genomes present at very low levels in healthy human patients. Crucially, the different rearranged mitochondrial genomes can theoretically be interconverted through intramitochondrial recombination. The putative operation of intramitochondrial recombination should impact on our ideas of how mitochondrial genes evolve, particularly with respect to how mitochondrial genomes rearrange.
Related Concept Videos
Animal Mitochondrial Genetics
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Mitochondrial Protein Sorting
Most of these mitochondrial proteins are encoded by the nucleus and imported to the mitochondria as unfolded or loosely folded precursors. Mitochondrial precursors...
Export of Mitochondrial and Chloroplast Genes
Translocation of Proteins into the Mitochondria
Sorting of outer membrane proteins:
Mitochondrial outer membrane proteins are of two types: the transmembrane, beta-barrel porins, and the membrane-anchored, alpha-helical proteins. Beta-barrel porin precursors are translocated by the TOM complex and inserted into the outer mitochondrial membrane by the SAM complex. In contrast,...
Gene Conversion

