Final answer:
The mitochondrial genome is the trait that adheres to maternal inheritance in humans, as it is passed down exclusively from mother to offspring and is used in tracing maternal lineages and ancestry.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the given options, the one that adheres to maternal inheritance in humans is D) Mitochondrial genome. Maternal inheritance refers to genes or genetic material that is passed down exclusively from the mother to her offspring. Hair color, eye color, and blood type are all traits that follow a Mendelian pattern of inheritance involving genes from both parents. However, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which contains about 37 genes and is found in the cytoplasm of the egg cell, is transmitted solely from mother to offspring, making it a key tool for tracing ancestry and genealogy.
The mitochondria are unique in that this maternal lineage is continuous; it does not undergo recombination, so the mitochondrial genome passed down is identical from mother to child barring any mutations. This has been useful for molecular anthropologists who study maternal lineages to determine when human populations began diverging from one another.