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Autophagy eliminates paternal mitochondria

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 12, page 771 (2011)Cite this article

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Both groups monitored fluorescently labelled paternal mitochondria and the autophagosome marker LGG-1, a homologue of mammalian LC3, in C. elegans embryos. They found that, after fertilization, LGG-1-positive structures accumulated around paternal mitochondria in early embryos, but disappeared by the 16-cell stage (Sato and Sato) or after the first mitotic divisions (Al Rawi et al.). Al Rawi et al. also observed mitochondria in double-membrane vesicles (which are indicative of autophagosomes) after fertilization. Thus, autophagosome formation coincides with the localization, and disappearance, of paternal mitochondria.

spermatozoon-triggered autophagy degrades paternal mitochondria

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Sato, M. & Sato, K. Degradation of paternal mitochondria by fertilization-triggered autophagy in C. elegans embryos. Science 13 Oct 2011 (10.1126/science.1210333)

  2. Al Rawi, S. et al. Postfertilization autophagy of sperm organelles prevents paternal mitochondrial DNA transmission. Science 27 Oct 2011 (10.1126/science.1211878)

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  1. Katharine H. Wrighton
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Wrighton, K. Autophagy eliminates paternal mitochondria. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 12, 771 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3234

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