Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Pseudoautosomal
Region
Nonrecombining Y
(NRY)
Pseudoautosomal
Region
FIGURE 16.3
Basic structure of the human Y chromosome.
TABLE 16.2 Molecular Acronyms
Acronym
Full Name
DNA
mtDNA
MSY
nDNA
NRY
PCR
RNA
SNP
STR
Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Mitochondrial DNA
Male-Specific Y (chromosome)
Nuclear DNA
Nonrecombining Y (chromosome)
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Ribonucleic Acid
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
Short Tandem Repeat
daughters inherit their mitochondrial DNA from their mothers (but only daughters can pass
on their mtDNA to offspring).
These different modes of inheritance have important implications for genetic analysis.
Nuclear DNA contains within it the genomic information of all your ancestors, but it is
not possible to track which exact bits of DNA came from which specific ancestors because
it has gone through so much reshuffling. Because the NRYand mtDNA genome are inherited
virtually intact from each parent, genetic information can be clearly assigned to either the
paternal or maternal lineage, respectively.
