Mitochondria and germ-cell death

David C. Krakauer () and Alex Mira
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David C. Krakauer: Institute for Advanced Study
Alex Mira: University of Oxford

Nature, 1999, vol. 400, issue 6740, 125-126

Abstract: Abstract In birds and mammals, most of the female germ cells are destroyed before fertilization in a process known as atresia, reducing the population of cells to a small fraction of that present in early fetal life. We suggest that this death of germ cells can be interpreted as a developmental solution to the accumulation of mutations (Müller's ratchet) in mitochondria, an idea that is supported by comparative analysis. Atresia in effect therefore removes oocytes carrying mutant mitochondria1.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/22026

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