About Lesson
- Extranuclear inheritance or cytoplasmic inheritance is the transmission of genes that occur outside the nucleus.
- It is found in most eukaryotes and is commonly known to occur in cytoplasmic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts or from cellular parasites like viruses or bacteria.
- Extracellular inheritance is a non-Mendelian inheritance wherein a trait was transmitted from the parent to the offspring not nuclear in nature but involving other organellar genetic material.
- There are traits manifested in certain eukaryotes that result from extranuclear inheritance.
- The mitochondria, for instance, contain genetic material independent of the chromosomes inside the nucleus.
- During the union of gametes, the mitochondrial DNA from the maternal parent is imparted to its offspring.
- Hence, when the mitochondrial DNA is expressed, the resulting traits would be extranuclear in nature, and determined largely as maternal effect. Inherited diseases relating to mitochondria is called mitochondrial disease.
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