A nuclear-encoded endonuclease governs the paternal transmission of mitochondria in Cucumis plants.

ABSTRACT: Non-Mendelian transmission of mitochondria has been well established across most eukaryotes, however the genetic mechanism that governs this uniparental inheritance remains unclear. Plants in the genus Cucumis, specifically melon and cucumber, exhibit paternal transmission of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA, making them excellent models for exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying mitochondrial transmission. Here, we develop a toolkit to screen for mutants in mitochondrial inheritance (mti), and use fine mapping to successfully identify a mitochondrially targeted endonuclease gene (MTI1) controlling mitochondrial transmission. Knockout of MTI1 results in a shift from paternal to bi-parental inheritance of the mtDNA, confirming the crucial role of MTI1 in uniparental inheritance of mitochon

SUBMITTER: Shen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12062418 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature