Mitochondrial DNA replacement versus nuclear DNA persistence

In this paper we consider two populations whose generations are not overlapping and whose size is large. The number of males and females in both populations is constant. Any generation is replaced by a new one and any individual has two parents concerning nuclear DNA and a single one (the mother) concerning mtDNA. Moreover, at any generation some individuals migrate from the first population to the second. In a finite random time T, the mtDNA of the second population is completely replaced by the mtDNA of the first. In the same time, the nuclear DNA is not completely replaced and a fraction F of the ancient nuclear DNA persists. We compute both T and F. Since this study shows that complete replacement of mtDNA in a population is compatible with the persistence of a large fraction of nuclear DNA, it may have some relevance for the ‘out of Africa’/multiregional debate in palaeoanthropology.