Exam 19: Cytoplasmic Inheritance and the Evolution of Organelle Genomes

The protein-coding genes of chloroplasts are involved in what part of photosynthesis?

You are a genetic counselor working with a phenotypically normal young couple who have been referred because the wife has a family history of a mitochondrial disorder that results in considerable dysfunction. What is the most important consideration you can suggest?

In mammals, the number of mitochondria per cell is highly variable. Which of the following would have the largest number: skin cells, red blood cells, or skeletal muscle cells?

What are the closest "relatives" of chloroplasts still found as free-living organisms today?

In a cross between a petite yeast mutant and a wild-type strain, results showed some petite and some wild-type outcomes. Which of these statements must be true of this petite mutation?

Allan Wilson showed that the mtDNA of Africans is more diverse than that of other human populations. Does this finding provide evidence for the multiregional (MRE)model or the recent African origin (RAO)model?

The organelles involved in organelle heredity are ________ and ________.

Any form of inheritance that does not follow Mendelian patterns and that involves most of the cytoplasm being contributed to the embryo by one of the parents is called ________.

If a chloroplast coding sequence has been transferred to the nuclear genome, but the protein product is needed in the chloroplast, what must be added to the original polypeptide sequence?

Mitochondrial mutations in mammals are passed to the offspring by the ________ parent.

Three of the four modes of inheritance of organelle genes are • maternal inheritance as in mammals, • paternal inheritance as in gymnosperms, and • selective degradation of one source during mating. What is the fourth?

Transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial genes closely resembles regulation of _______ operons.