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.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Jansen, R. P. S. & de Boer, K. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 145, 81–88 (1998).
Baker, T. G. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 158, 417–433 (1963).
Tsafiri, A. & Braw, R. H. Oxf. Surv. Reprod. Biol. 6, 226–265 (1984).
Lynch, M. Mol. Biol. Evol. 13, 209–220 (1996).
Corral-Debrinsky, M.et al. Nature Genet. 2, 324–329 (1992).
Stearns, S. C. in The Evolution of Sex and its Consequences (ed. Stearns, S. C.) 337-349 (Birkhauser, Basel, 1987).
Hauswirth, W. W. & Laipis, P. J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 79, 4686–4690 (1982).
Bergstrom, C. T. & Pritchard, J. Genetics 149, 2135–2146 (1998).
Shimuzu, S., Narita, M. & Tsujimoto, Y. Nature 399, 483–487 (1999).
Pagel, M. Zool. Scripta 26, 331–348 (1997).
Guraya, S. S. Biology of Ovarian Follicles in Mammals 268-273 (Springer, Berlin, 1985).
Mira, A. J. Theor. Biol. 194, 275–287 (1998).
Mendez de la Cruz, F. R.et al. Funct. Ecol. 7, 535–540 (1993).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krakauer, D., Mira, A. Mitochondria and germ-cell death. Nature 400, 125–126 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/22026
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/22026
This article is cited by
-
Caveat observator: the many faces of pre-spawning atresia in marine bivalve reproductive cycles
Marine Biology (2017)
-
Mitochondrial activity in gametes and transmission of viable mtDNA
Biology Direct (2015)
-
The dynamics of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy: implications for human health and disease
Nature Reviews Genetics (2015)
-
Bone morphogenetic protein 2 promotes primordial follicle formation in the ovary
Scientific Reports (2015)
-
Germline mitochondrial DNA mutations aggravate ageing and can impair brain development
Nature (2013)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.