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Independent transfer of mitochondrial plasmids in Neurospora crassa

Abstract

IN the ascomycete fungus Neurospora, the distribution of homologous mitochondrial plasmid DNAs in different species1 and among mitochondrial types2 of N. crassa suggests that these molecules have moved between lineages of clonally propagated mtDNA. Here we report direct evidence for independent inheritance of mitochondrial plasmids by sexual reproduction which may help explain the distribution of these molecules among mitochondrial lineages.

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May, G., Taylor, J. Independent transfer of mitochondrial plasmids in Neurospora crassa. Nature 339, 320–322 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339320a0

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