The evolutionary origin of glycosomes.
The glycolytic pathway of the Kinetoplastida is organized in a unique manner: the majority of its enzymes are contained in organelles called glycosomes. In this article Paul Michels and Fred Opperdoes argue that the glycosomes are equivalent to the microbodies and peroxisomes identified in other eukaryotic cells. They explore the possible evolutionary origin of the glycosome by comparing many of its structural and functional properties with those of other members of the microbody family and with some features of other organelles, the mitochondria and chloroplasts, which have been studied in much more detail.
International Institute of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Research Unit for Tropical Diseases, Avenue Hippocrate 74, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.
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Michels
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Opperdoes