Yep the mitochondria located at the base of the tail in sperm only serve to provide energy for the long swim to the ova and are discarded with the rest of the sperm at the time of fertilisation. Outside of that the sperm only contribute half the genetic load and the centrioles. All the other mechanisms are present in the ova...this is why I always tell my female students if you marry a lazy bum you have to blame his mother
. It is an interesting thought about mitochondrial DNA mutation as this can be used to determine maternity quite a long way back (I am led to believe right back to the start) so any mutation must be fairly mild in respect to gamet production I would think. Heres another tit bit for you Mark, did you know each Mitochondria contains exactly 12 hydrogen ions in solution?
Mark