Question

A student claims that if the animal producing the spermatozoa has a mutation in a mitochondrial gene, the probability that any offspring will inherit the mutation is zero. Provide evidence to support this claim.

Answer 1

Answer:

The student is wrong, spermatozoa are germinal cells and therefore mitochondrial mutations (likewise genomic nuclear mutations) are inherited by offspring

Explanation:

Although the probabilities of inheriting a mutation from a single sperm cell are low, it since an organism produces millions of sperm cells throughout its life span, the mutations in the germinal cells (i.e., sperms and ovules) are inherited by offspring