Meeting Abstract
Maternal transmission of mitochondria renders the mtDNA sequence prone to the accumulation of mutations that are deleterious to male, but not female, function. In this talk, I will describe the evolutionary logic underlying this hypothesis, which is generally known as “Mother’s Curse”, and provide an overview of its key predictions. I will then present case studies of empirical support for the Mother’s Curse hypothesis, which come from my group’s research on fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), and I will highlight emerging evidence from other model organisms, and humans. Finally, I will discuss the implications and caveats of the current evidence base, and outline future research avenues required to clarify the pervasiveness of “Mother’s Curse” mutations in metazoans.
