Transmission of Functional, Wild-Type Mitochondria and the Fittest mtDNA to the Next Generation: Bottleneck Phenomenon, Balbiani Body, and Mitophagy

Tworzydlo, Waclaw; Sekula, Malgorzata; Bilinski, Szczepan M.

doi:10.3390/genes11010104

Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Edit a Special Issue

Article Menu

...

Open AccessReview

Transmission of Functional, Wild-Type Mitochondria and the Fittest mtDNA to the Next Generation: Bottleneck Phenomenon, Balbiani Body, and Mitophagy

Waclaw Tworzydlo

Malgorzata Sekula

and

Szczepan M. Bilinski

Department of Developmental Biology and Invertebrate Morphology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Krakow, Poland

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Genes 2020, 11(1), 104; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11010104

Received: 9 December 2019 / Revised: 28 December 2019 / Accepted: 13 January 2020 / Published: 16 January 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mitochondrial Calcium Signaling, Mitochondrial Dynamics, and Mitophagy)

View Full-Text Download PDF

Browse Figures

Review Reports Citation Export

Abstract

The most important role of mitochondria is to supply cells with metabolic energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As synthesis of ATP molecules is accompanied by the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is highly vulnerable to impairment and, consequently, accumulation of deleterious mutations. In most animals, mitochondria are transmitted to the next generation maternally, i.e., exclusively from female germline cells (oocytes and eggs). It has been suggested, in this context, that a specialized mechanism must operate in the developing oocytes enabling escape from the impairment and subsequent transmission of accurate (devoid of mutations) mtDNA from one generation to the next. Literature survey suggest that two distinct and irreplaceable pathways of mitochondria transmission may be operational in various animal lineages. In some taxa, the mitochondria are apparently selected: functional mitochondria with high inner membrane potential are transferred to the cells of the embryo, whereas those with low membrane potential (overloaded with mutations in mtDNA) are eliminated by mitophagy. In other species, the respiratory activity of germline mitochondria is suppressed and ROS production alleviated leading to the same final effect, i.e., transmission of undamaged mitochondria to offspring, via an entirely different route. View Full-Text

Keywords: Balbiani body; oogenesis; oocyte; mitochondria selection; mitophagy

▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Tworzydlo, W.; Sekula, M.; Bilinski, S.M. Transmission of Functional, Wild-Type Mitochondria and the Fittest mtDNA to the Next Generation: Bottleneck Phenomenon, Balbiani Body, and Mitophagy. Genes 2020, 11, 104. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11010104

AMA Style

Tworzydlo W, Sekula M, Bilinski SM. Transmission of Functional, Wild-Type Mitochondria and the Fittest mtDNA to the Next Generation: Bottleneck Phenomenon, Balbiani Body, and Mitophagy. Genes. 2020; 11(1):104. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11010104

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tworzydlo, Waclaw, Malgorzata Sekula, and Szczepan M. Bilinski. 2020. "Transmission of Functional, Wild-Type Mitochondria and the Fittest mtDNA to the Next Generation: Bottleneck Phenomenon, Balbiani Body, and Mitophagy" Genes 11, no. 1: 104. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11010104

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Transmission of Functional, Wild-Type Mitochondria and the Fittest mtDNA to the Next Generation: Bottleneck Phenomenon, Balbiani Body, and Mitophagy

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI