Abstract

The mitochondrial genome is vital for Caenorhabditis elegans metabolism, physiology, and development. The C. elegans mitochondrial DNA is typical of animal mitochondrial genomes in its size and gene content. It is 13,794 nucleotides in length and encodes 36 genes: 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and 12 protein subunits of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Although it represents only a small number of genes, an elaborate cellular machinery comprised of over 200 nuclear genes is needed to replicate, transcribe, and maintain the mitochondrial chromosome and to assemble the translation machinery needed to express this dozen proteins. Mitochondrial genetics is peculiar and complex because mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited and can be present at tens to tens of thousands of copies per cell. The mitochondrial genome content of the developing nematode is developmentally regulated; it increases about 30-fold between the L1 and the adult stages and blocking the increase leads to larval arrest. Energy metabolism is also intimately linked to aging and lifespan determination. The nematode model system offers numerous advantages for understanding the full importance and scope of the mitochondrial genome in animal life.

Highlights

  • The mitochondrial genome is indispensable to the cellular and organismal biology of Caenorhabditis elegans

  • Mitochondria are double-membrane organelles most commonly associated with oxidative phosphorylation, a process that meets the majority of cellular energy demands

  • A typical animal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the nematode mitochondrial genome is slightly smaller than its human counterpart

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Summary

Introduction

The mitochondrial genome is indispensable to the cellular and organismal biology of Caenorhabditis elegans. An elaborate cellular machinery is employed to maintain mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), to express it, and to ensure its inheritance. Because it is maternally transmitted and because of its wide-ranging copy number (it can be present at fewer than 100 to tens of thousands of copies per cell), the genetics of mtDNA are characterized by a number of peculiar and as yet incompletely understood features. Mitochondria play a pivotal role in cellular metabolism. They were once free-living organisms related to modern eubacteria and they continue to perform many of the biochemical and physiological functions of their bacterial ancestors (Timmis et al, 2004). Mitochondria are involved in heme, lipid, nucleotide, iron-sulfur cluster, and amino acid biosynthesis: they are home to the citric acid cycle, the urea cycle and fatty acid oxidation

Mitochondrial DNA structure
Mitochondrial DNA inheritance
Mitochondrial dynamics
Role of mtDNA in development
10. Perspectives
11. Acknowledgements
Findings
12. References
Full Text
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