POLG and infection: Importantly, mutations in the mitochondrial replisome’s proteins POLG, TFAM, and MGME1 genes are associated with the accumulation of mtDNA deletions that may also increase susceptibility for infection-induced chronic-inflammation-associated disease (Spelbrink et al., 2001; Longley et al., 2006; Nicholls et al., 2014; Fontana and Gahlon, 2020).