Nuclear DNA be advantageous provide the genetic variation upon which natural selection operates to generate new adaptations. Nuclear DNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. Nuclear DNA encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. Nuclear DNA adheres to Mendelian inheritance, with information coming from two parents, one male and one female, rather than matrilineally (through the mother) as in mitochondrial DNA. Nuclear DNA is a nucleic acid, a polymeric biomolecule or biopolymer, found in the nucleus of
Extrachromosomal DNA virus. Some viruses, such as HIV and oncogenetic viruses, incorporate their own DNA into the genome of the host cell. Viral genomes can be made up of single stranded DNA (ssDNA), double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and can be found in both linear and circular form. One example of infection of a virus constituting as extrachromosomal DNA is the human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV DNA genome undergoes three distinct stages of replication: establishment, maintenance and amplification. HPV infects epithelial cells in the anogenital tract and oral cavity. Normally, HPV is detected and cleared by the immune system. The recognition of viral