Wilson, Amber Diane

Mitochondria are inherited uniparentally in almost all eukaryotic models studied to date. The fathers mitochondria are eliminated and there have been several hypothesis as to how this occurs. One hypothesis is that the sperm mitochondria are actively targeted and destroyed. Ubiquitin has been proposed a possible candidate involved in this process. My research investigated the normal mitochondrial inheritance pattern in C. elegans. I also examined the possible role of the C34F11.1 gene in mitochondrial inheritance. This gene is sperm-specific and has ubiquitin-ligase properties. It was determined that the normal mitochondrial inheritance pattern in C. elegans is maternal and that the sperm mitochondria are eliminated. It was also concluded that the C34F11.1 gene does not have a role in normal mitochondrial inheritance.