mitochondrialadj.
/ˌmʌɪtə(ʊ)ˈkɒndrɪəl/, U.S. /ˌmaɪdəˈkɑndriəl/ Cell Biology.
Of, relating to, or of the nature of a mitochondrion or mitochondria.
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the world > life > biology > substance > cell > cell organelle or contents > [adjective] > mitochondria
mitochondrial1901
1901 Jrnl. Royal Microsc. Soc. 14 Meves believes that this term [sc. Nebenkern] should lapse, and himself employs for the separate granules Benda's term mitochondria, and for the Nebenkern which may be formed by their union, the term mitochondrial corpuscle.
1920 L. Doncaster Introd. Study Cytol. ii. 23 Some investigators maintain..that every mitochondrial body arises only from a pre-existing one.
1962 Lancet 19 May 1056/1 Increased permeability of the mitochondrial membrane leads to the escape of enzymes and cofactors.
1991 Health & Fitness Jan. 58/1 Such symptoms of ageing as loss of muscle strength, mental agility, and eyesight may be connected to rare diseases called mitochondrial myopathies.
2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 29 June 24/3 There is archaeological and mitochondrial evidence that dogs began living with people as soon as there were people.
Compounds
mitochondrial DNA n. the DNA that is contained, expressed, and replicated within mitochondria and that is generally subject to maternal inheritance.
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1964 G. Schatz et al. in Biochem. & Biophysical Res. Communications 15 128 An unambiguous demonstration of mitochondrial DNA requires the quantitative removal of nuclei and nuclear fragments from the mitochondrial fractions examined.
1979 New Phytologist 83 849 It is fairly safe to predict that it will not be too long before the complete sequence of a mitochondrial DNA molecule is known.
1987 Exper. Cell Res. 171 404 Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) represents 0.15% of the total cell DNA..of rabbit articular chondrocytes.
1992 Economist 15 Feb. 108/3 Unlike the DNA in the nucleus, this mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is not rearranged every generation.
2000 N.Y. Times 7 Dec. a 4/3 Swedish scientists used mitochondrial DNA..from 53 people to show that the evolutionary tree of human beings is firmly rooted in Africa.
mitochondrial Eve n. [ < mitochondrial adj. + Eve, the name of the first woman in the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures] the female carrier of the mitochondrial DNA sequence from which all modern human mitochondrial DNA sequences are derived, postulated to have lived in Africa 150,000–200,000 years ago; (more generally) the last common female ancestor of all modern humans.
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1987 Science 2 Oct. 24/2 The problem is that the mitochondrial Eve at 200,000 years ago is just not necessarily the same thing as the last common ancestor of all modern humans.
1992 Cambr. Encycl. Human Evol. viii. vi. 320/2 The mitochondrial Eve story, which—like its biblical counterpart—once seemed a clear and convincing tale about where humanity was born, has..become an increasingly murky one.
1995 Science 22 Dec. 1930 The mitochondrial Eve hypothesis emanates from a confusion between gene genealogies and individual genealogies.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1901