[Evolution of mitochondria].
Until recently, the origin and evolution of mitochondria was explained by the serial endosymbiosis hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that contemporary mitochondria are the direct descendants of a bacterial endosymbiont, which was settled in a nucleus-containing amitochondriate host cell. Results of the mitochondrial gene sequences support a monophyletic origin of the mitochondria from a single eubacterial ancestor shared with a subdivision of the alpha-proteobacteria. In recent years, the complete sequences of the vast variety of mitochondrial and eubacterial genomes were determined. These data indicate that the mitochondrial genome evolved from a common ancestor of all extant eukaryotes and assume a possibility that the mitochondrial and nuclear constituents of the eukaryotic cell originated simultaneously.
Litoshenko
A Ia
AIa
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013559:Symbiosis
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial