A new study seems to have invalidated the long - hold notion that development can only be witness over an super foresighted menstruum of fourth dimension . scientist have discovered that in a species of chicken , the pace of mutation in mitochondrial DNA is 15 sentence faster than previously thought .
Mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ) , sometimes advert to as our " second genome , " is a type of DNA that is line up outside our chromosomes . It is contained in structures called mitochondria , the “ powerhouses ” of the cellular telephone where sugars are convert into energy . In humans , it contains just 37 genes , an super small figure compared to the 20,000 - 25,000 in the atomic DNA wound into our chromosome . MtDNA is also almost exclusively inherited from the mother .
The study focused on a well - documented 50 - year thoroughbred population of White Plymouth Rock crybaby developed at Virginia Tech by Professor Paul Siegel . The original universe arrive from seven partly hybridize lines , and since 1957 scientists have been using a selective conjugation approach . This led to chickens that are 10 times the sizing of the stock White Plymouth Rock chickens at 56 days old .
The squad hoard blood samples from 12 chickens of the same generation and analyzed them using the most distantly relate enatic pedigree ; in this way they could reconstruct how mtDNA is inherit in the universe .
Using fossil - based estimation , earlier piece of work ascertain that the rate of change in a mitochondrial genome is around 2 percent per million years . Over a 50 - year period of time , no mutations should have therefore been mention , but the study in reality get hold two mutation in the mtDNA .
Senior author Professor Larson , from Oxford University , said in astatement : " Our observations reveal that development is always moving quickly but we tend not to see it because we typically measure it over longer metre menstruation . "
The study also showed the first direct evidence of agnatic transmission of mtDNA in razz . " The one matter everyone eff about mitochondria is that it is almost exclusively passed down the maternal line , but we identified chicks who inherit their mitochondria from their Father-God , meaning so - called ' agnatic leakage ' can happen in avian populations , " study lead author Dr Michelle Alexander , from the University of York , order in astatement . " Both of these finding demonstrate the speed and dynamism of development when observe over myopic clip periods . "
The research has been write in Biology Letters .
