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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Genotyping Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Mitochondrial Genome by Pyrosequencing
Published on: February 10, 2023
How do mitochondrial genes get into the nucleus?
1Institute of Botany III, Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, D-40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Abstract:
It is well known that genes from chloroplasts and mitochondria were transferred to the nucleus many times during plant evolution. But in what form do the transferred genes physically make that intracellular journey--as RNA, as cDNA, as pieces of organelle DNA, or as whole organelle chromosomes? Current views focus upon cDNA as the vehicle, based upon some examples from plants. But other mechanisms, involving direct transfer of DNA from organelle chromosomes, could also account for the available data. Direct DNA transfer, rather than cDNA-mediated transfer, does occur today, and it probably prevailed during the early phases of organelle evolution.
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