ABSTRACT
Mitochondria are cellular centers of energy metabolism responsible for the production of ATP needed for daily functions. Coordination of gene expression among the genomes present in the mitochondria and nucleus is of crucial importance for cells of all eukaryotes. Hundreds of genetic diseases in humans and thousands of phenotypic variations in plants and other organisms are known to be the result of alterations affecting this critical communication. Defects in this communication are known to affect any organ in the human body and at any age resulting in debilitating and often fatal diseases. It is believed that in the United States alone, over 50 million adults suffer from diseases that may in part be due to defects in nuclear-mitochondrial (NM) interaction. Due to the nature of mitochondrial inheritance, most disorders in NM interaction are maternally inherited.
