Extranuclear inheritance
transmission of genes occurring outside the nucleus
Extranuclear inheritance or cytoplasmic inheritance is the transmission of genes that occur outside the nucleus. It is found in most eukaryotes and is commonly known to occur in cytoplasmic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts or from cellular parasites like viruses or bacteria.
Organelles
Mitochondria are organelles which function to transform energy as a result of cellular respiration. Chloroplasts are organelles which function to produce sugars via photosynthesis in plants and algae. The genes located in mitochondria and chloroplasts are very important for proper cellular function. The mitochondrial DNA and other extranuclear types of DNA replicate independently of the DNA located in the nucleus, which is typically arranged in chromosomes that only replicate one time preceding cellular division. The extranuclear genomes of mitochondria and chloroplasts replicate independently of cell division, instead, they replicate in response to a cell's increased energy needs which vary throughout the cell's lifespan. Since they replicate independently, genomic recombination of these genomes is rarely found in offspring, contrary to nuclear genomes in which recombination is common.
Mitochondrial diseases are inherited from the mother, not from the father. Mitochondria with their mitochondrial DNA are present in the egg cell prior to fertilization by the sperm.
The public source identifies “Extranuclear inheritance” as transmission of genes occurring outside the nucleus. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Extranuclear, inheritance and transmission.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3566379. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Extranuclear inheritance” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.