X chromosome Question

[schaz]

I am assuming that Mitochondrial DNA is synonymous with the X chromosome.

My recollection of genetics, is that a daughter receives an X chromosome from each parent. If this is the case, how does the mtDNA test guarantee that it is looking at only one of the X chromosomes when testing a female?

It seems to me that there would be interference, and confusion with two X chromosomes being sequenced.

In other words, if my daughter were to have the mtDNA test, how do you tell the difference between the mtDNA that was passed through me from my mother, and the mtDNA that my daughter's mother passed?

Thanks for your explanation.

Seth

[paitenceofjob]

mtDNA is different from the X chromosome. The X chromosome along with the others is in the nucleus of each of your cells; mtDNA is in the mitochondria. A girl or a boy may get either X chromosome from her or his mother (who got one from her mom and one from her dad), but the mtDNA comes straight down the maternal line. The reason for this is that mtDNA of the sperm does not make it through the egg membrane, while its nuclear DNA does; so all that is left is the egg's mtDNA.

[schaz]

Thanks alot.

I should have remembered that.

Seth