For heteroplasmic groups, this result implies that resampling the cellular population to produce a new group produces a negligible amount of additional stochasticity compared to that already present in the random makeup and inheritance of groups.
Thus, the only determinant factors of heteroplasmy variance related to the inheritance of groups are whether groups are homoplasmic or heteroplasmic, and, if the former, the characteristic size of groups.
Functional links may be discovered, for example, by similarity of expression profiles [ 2, 14, 15], or by similarity between the set of protein-protein interaction partners [ 16, 17], or by co-inheritance of groups of genes across different genomes [ 18].
Our results reveal previously unrecognized complex patterns of inheritance for groups of CNVs.
The smallest possible unit of inheritance is a single mtDNA molecule; some studies have hypothesised that the unit of inheritance consists of groups of mtDNA molecules.
The first striking result is that the inheritance of heteroplasmic groups produces the same heteroplasmy variance as binomial partitioning, regardless of cluster size.
Notably, this case (inheritance of heteroplasmic groups, likely with fluid structure due to mixing of organellar content and mitochondrial dynamics), gives rise to statistics which our binomial model reproduces (see Appendix 1).
As identified in Jacobs et al. (2000), the inheritance of heteroplasmic groups thus provides a means to facilitate local mtDNA complementation while provoking no increase in heteroplasmy variance beyond that associated with binomial partitioning of elements at divisions.
According to this model, for instance, the ancient teleost A and B chromosomes shared paralogy, which was the result of segmental inheritance of the B' linkage group from the vertebrate ancestor.
"The emergence of Natufian cemeteries... may represent new and complex social organizations which could have included the establishment or strengthening of special interest groups, inheritance of corporate property, territorial ownerships, and aspects of social organization," the authors wrote.
The authors estimated that inheritance of non-O blood group accounted for 19.5% of all pancreatic cancer in individuals of European ancestry.
