| mitochondrial sheath | The spirally arranged mitochondria in the middle piece of a spermatozoon; may control movement of the tail. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| mitochondrial swelling | Increase in volume of mitochondria due to an influx of fluid; it occurs in hypotonic solutions due to osmotic pressure and in isotonic solutions as a result of altered permeability of the membranes of respiring mitochondria. (12 Dec 1998) |
| disease, mitochondrial | Mutations (changes) in the mitochondrial chromosome are responsible for a number of disorders including an eye disease (Leber's hereditary optic atrophy), a type of epilepsy (called MERRF which stands for Myoclonus Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibres), and a cause of dementia (called MELAS for Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-like episodes). All mitochondrial diseases were entirely enigmatic before it was discovered that they were due to mutations not in regular chromosomes but the mitochondrial chromosome. (12 Dec 1998) |
| DNA, mitochondrial | Double-stranded DNA of mitochondria. In eukaryotes, the mitochondrial genome is circular and codes for ribosomal rnas, transfer rnas, and about 10 proteins. (12 Dec 1998) |