Mitochondrial DNA: an advance in eukaryotic cell biology in the 1960s.
Between 1950 and 1960 mitochondria were recognized as well-characterized organelles of animal and fungal cells. They shared more functional autonomy than other cellular structures. The transmission of some mitochondrial characteristics did not obey Mendelian rules and followed cytoplasmic inheritance patterns. Was this situation a consequence of still unknown complexities? We present a personal account on how approaches were set up to test very different hypotheses. In the end, it was shown that mitochondria had their own DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and that this molecule carried information specific to these organelles.
Mounolou
Jean-Claude
JC
Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France. mounoloujcm@wanadoo.fr
Lacroute
François
F
D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005111:Extrachromosomal Inheritance; D049673:History, 20th Century; D015003:Yeasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial