Question

Difference between nuclear and mitochondrial genome

Answer 1

Nuclear DNA is located within the nucleus of eukaryote cells and usually has two copies per cell while mitochondrial DNA is located in the mitochondria and contains 100-1,000 copies per cell. The structure of nuclear DNA chromosomes is linear with open ends and includes 46 chromosomes containing 3 billion nucleotides.

Nuclear DNA is diploid, whereas mtDNA exists in a state of ploidy. Nearly each cell in the human body contains numerous mitochondria organelles, each of which harbor multiplie mtDNA molecules. ... The main difference between mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA is the number of chromosomes.

The nuclear genome refers to the DNA in the chromosomes contained in the nucleus; in the case of humans the DNA in the 46 chromosomes. It is the nuclear genome that defines a multicellular organism; it will be the same for all (almost) cells of the organism.


The mitochondrial genome is the full genetic complement of a mitochondrion. Mitochondrial DNA is only a small portion of the total DNA of a eukaryotic cell and in most species is solely inherited from the mother. In humans mitochondrial DNA contains approximately 16,600 base pairs encoding 37 genes.