in 1979, bones found outside ekaterinburg, russia, were shown to be those of tsar nicholas and his family, who were executed in 1918 by a bolshevik firing squad in the russian revolution. to prove that the skeletons were those of the royal family, mtdna was extracted from the bone samples, amplified by pcr, and compared with mtdna from living relatives of the tsar’s family.

select options indicating why dna from the mitochondria was analyzed instead of nuclear dna.
☐ mitochondrial genomes are present in multiple copies in the cells.
☐ mitochondrial dna does not undergo recombination.
☐ mitochondrial dna is inherited from both biological parents.
☐ mitochondrial dna is circular and is more stable over time.

from which living relatives would mitochondrial dna provide useful information for verifying that the skeletons were those of the royal family?
○ the mtdna from the tsar’s living relatives of paternal descent should be analyzed.
○ the mtdna from the tsar’s living relatives of both paternal and maternal descent should be analyzed.
○ the mtdna from the tsar’s living relatives of maternal descent should be analyzed.

Question

in 1979, bones found outside ekaterinburg, russia, were shown to be those of tsar nicholas and his family, who were executed in 1918 by a bolshevik firing squad in the russian revolution. to prove that the skeletons were those of the royal family, mtdna was extracted from the bone samples, amplified by pcr, and compared with mtdna from living relatives of the tsar’s family.

select options indicating why dna from the mitochondria was analyzed instead of nuclear dna.
☐ mitochondrial genomes are present in multiple copies in the cells.
☐ mitochondrial dna does not undergo recombination.
☐ mitochondrial dna is inherited from both biological parents.
☐ mitochondrial dna is circular and is more stable over time.

from which living relatives would mitochondrial dna provide useful information for verifying that the skeletons were those of the royal family?
○ the mtdna from the tsar’s living relatives of paternal descent should be analyzed.
○ the mtdna from the tsar’s living relatives of both paternal and maternal descent should be analyzed.
○ the mtdna from the tsar’s living relatives of maternal descent should be analyzed.

Accepted Answer

# Brief Explanations:
For the first question: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has multiple copies per cell, making it easier to extract from degraded samples like old bones. It does not recombine, so it is passed down unchanged through maternal lines, which simplifies matching. Also, its circular structure makes it more stable over time than linear nuclear DNA. mtDNA is only maternally inherited, not from both parents, so that option is incorrect.
For the second question: mtDNA is inherited exclusively through the maternal line, so only relatives from the maternal descent of the tsar will share matching mtDNA.
# Answer:
1.  Correct options for why mtDNA was used:
    - Mitochondrial genomes are present in multiple copies in the cells.
    - Mitochondrial DNA does not undergo recombination.
    - Mitochondrial DNA is circular and is more stable over time.
2.  Correct option for useful relatives:
    - The mtDNA from the tsar's living relatives of maternal descent should be analyzed.

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