... mitochondria (ascompared to the nucleus) increase the likelihood ofoxidative damage occurring and being maintained in themitochondrial genome. The levels of oxidatively damagedbases in mtDNA are ... chance that a mutation event willaffect a gene product.MtDNA mutations have been shown, in humans, toresult in a number of diseases including myopathies andencephalopathies, a broad class ... Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.USA 89, 7370–7374.24. Katayama, M., Tanaka, M., Yamamoto, H., Ohbayashi, T.,Nimura, Y. & Ozama, T. (1991) Deleted mitochondrial DNA ion the skeletal muscle of aged individuals....