Mitochondrial fusion and inheritance of the mitochondrial genome

Although maternal or uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial genomes is a general rule, biparental inheritance is sometimes observed in protists and fungi, including yeasts. In yeast, recombination occurs between the mitochondrial genomes inherited from both parents. Mitochondrial fusion observed in yeast zygotes is thought to set up a space for DNA recombination. In the last decade, a universal mitochondrial fusion mechanism has been uncovered, using yeast as a model. On the other hand, an alternative mitochondrial fusion mechanism has been identified in the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum. A specific mitochondrial plasmid, mF, has been detected as the genetic material that causes mitochondrial fusion in P. polycephalum. Without mF, fusion of the mitochondria is not observed throughout the life cycle, suggesting that Physarum has no constitutive mitochondrial fusion mechanism. Conversely, mitochondria fuse in zygotes and during sporulation with mF. The complete mF sequence suggests that one gene, ORF640, encodes a fusogen for Physarum mitochondria. Although in general, mitochondria are inherited uniparentally, biparental inheritance occurs with specific sexual crossing in P. polycephalum. An analysis of the transmission of mitochondrial genomes has shown that recombinations between two parental mitochondrial genomes require mitochondrial fusion, mediated by mF. Physarum is a unique organism for studying mitochondrial fusion.