The problem with mixing mitochondria.
Mixing of mitochondrial DNAs (heteroplasmy) is unfavorable for reasons unknown. Sharpley et al. show that heteroplasmy has surprising genetic and behavioral effects in mice, even when each haplotype alone produces a normal phenotype. This interference is bioenergetic and may have contributed to the evolution of sexes.
Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. nick.lane@ucl.ac.uk
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