title: The origin of mitochondria.
abstract: The endosymbiont and episome theories about the origin of mitochondria are reviewed.  Biochemical and genetic data, relevant to these theories are discussed.  An alternative theory is also proposed; this theory is that nuclear and mitochondrial DNAs developed from compartmentalized duplicate prokaryote DNAs.
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000378:metabolism; D005796:Genes; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D010957:Plasmids; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004247:DNA