Human cells contain two different types of genes Most of our

Human cells contain two different types of genes. Most of our genes are in the nucleus,so they are present in two copies (diploid) and inherited from both parents. However, wealso have a small number of genes in our mitochondrial DNA, which is effectivelyhaploid and inherited only from the mother. Based on your understanding of populationgenetics, would you expect genetic drift to cause greater fluctuations in allele frequenciesfor mitochondrial genes or for nuclear genes? Or should both types of genes be equally affected by genetic drift?

Solution

genetic drift is variation in the relative frequency of different genotypes in a small population, owing to the chance disappearance of particular genes as individuals die or do not reproduce.

Since in case of mitochondria we never have a crossover like chromosomes so alleles selection over evolutionary time would not occur as allene mixing never occurs as it happens in sexual selection, and alleles would remain mostly the same ... so genetic drift will be less in mitochondrial DNA .

For better understanding read an article on mitochondrial eve .... it explains how the mitochondria of all humans on earth can be traced to mitochondria of a women in ancient past