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. 2014 Jul;4(13):2633-41.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.1069. Epub 2014 Jun 19.

Different degree of paternal mtDNA leakage between male and female progeny in interspecific Drosophila crosses

Emmanouil Dokianakis  1 , Emmanuel D Ladoukakis  1
Affiliations

Different degree of paternal mtDNA leakage between male and female progeny in interspecific Drosophila crosses

Emmanouil Dokianakis et al. Ecol Evol. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Maternal transmission of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in animals is thought to prevent the spread of selfish deleterious mtDNA mutations in the population. Various mechanisms have been evolved independently to prevent the entry of sperm mitochondria in the embryo. However, the increasing number of instances of paternal mtDNA leakage suggests that these mechanisms are not very effective. The destruction of sperm mitochondria in mammalian embryos is mediated by nuclear factors. Also, the destruction of paternal mitochondria in intraspecific crosses is more effective than in interspecific ones. These observations have led to the hypothesis that leakage of paternal mtDNA (and consequently mtDNA recombination owing to ensuing heteroplasmy) might be more common in inter- than in intraspecific crosses and that it should increase with phylogenetic distance of hybridizing species. We checked paternal leakage in inter- and intraspecific crosses in Drosophila and found little evidence for this hypothesis. In addition, we have observed a higher level of leakage among male than among female progeny from the same cross. This is the first report of sex-specific leakage of paternal mtDNA. It suggests that paternal mtDNA leakage might not be a stochastic result of an error-prone mechanism, but rather, it may be under complex genetic control.

Keywords: Drosophila; leakage of paternal mtDNA; mtDNA inheritance.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Target DNA detection limit for the primers mauyakF and mauyakR. M: marker λ/HindIII/EcoRI. Lanes 1 to 9 correspond to dilutions 1:10–1:10−9, 10: undiluted 1 μg total DNA from D. mauritiana. The expected product is 569 bp. The limit of detection is 1:10−7.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Leakage of paternal (D. sechellia) mtDNA in the cross D. simulans x D. sechellia. Individuals in lanes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 are male hybrids. Individuals in lanes 3 and 8 are female hybrids. Lanes 11 and 12 are positive controls (D. sechellia total DNA). Lane 13 is negative control (D. simulans total DNA). The primers for the PCR were sech6676F/7614R, and the expected size of the product is 938 bp. M is the size marker λ/HindIII/EcoRI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of paternal mtDNA presence in female offspring in the four crosses in which leakage of paternal mtDNA was detected. Divergence was calculated for the nuclear gene period. Adh (nuclear) and nad5 (mitochondrial) genes produced similar pictures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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