Mitochondrial genomes revisited: why do different lineages retain different genes?
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Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Genotyping Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Mitochondrial Genome by Pyrosequencing
Published on: February 10, 2023
Anzhelika Butenko1,2,3, Julius Lukeš1,3, Dave Speijer4
1Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.
Abstract:
The mitochondria contain their own genome derived from an alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont. From thousands of protein-coding genes originally encoded by their ancestor, only between 1 and about 70 are encoded on extant mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes). Thanks to a dramatically increasing number of sequenced and annotated mitogenomes a coherent picture of why some genes were lost, or relocated to the nucleus, is emerging. In this review, we describe the characteristics of mitochondria-to-nucleus gene transfer and the resulting varied content of mitogenomes across eukaryotes. We introduce a 'burst-upon-drift' model to best explain nuclear-mitochondrial population genetics with flares of transfer due to genetic drift.
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