Mitochondria
Mitochondrial Versus Nuclear DNA
Dr.V.Malathi
| Mitochondrial DNA | Nuclear DNA |
| Genome is circular | Nuclear genome is linear |
| Mitochondrial genome comprise of 16,569 DNA base pairs | The nuclear genome is made of 3.3 billion DNA base pairs. |
| Cell can contain several thousand copies of its mitochondrial genome | Cell has only one copy of its nuclear genome. |
| Mitochondrial genome is not enveloped, and is it not packaged into chromatin | Nuclear DNA is enveloped and packaged in to chromatin |
| Three percent of the mitochondrial genome is noncoding DNA, | 93% of the nuclear genome is noncoding DNA. |
| The mitochondrial mode of inheritance is strictly maternal, | Nuclear genomes are inherited equally from both parents. |
| Mitochondrial genes on both DNA strands are transcribed in a polycistronic manner: | Nuclear genes are usually transcribed one at a time from their own mRNA. |
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