Mitochondrial evolution: Gene shuffling, endosymbiosis, and signaling

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Multiple approaches of cellular metabolism define the bacterial ancestry of mitochondria

Otto Geiger et al.

Summary: We breathe by using oxygen consumed by mitochondria in our cells to extract energy. Mitochondria, which derive from aerobic bacteria, play crucial roles in oxidative phosphorylation and other metabolic pathways in eukaryotic cells. The exact bacterial origin of mitochondria and their relationship to the aerobic metabolism of our cells is still controversial despite the abundance of genomic data. In this study, we employ various approaches to identify the most likely bacteria that are the living relatives of the ancestral bacteria from which mitochondria originated. These bacteria inhabit marine environments and possess a high frequency of aerobic traits as well as genes for the metabolism of essential lipids found in eukaryotic membranes, such as sphingolipids and cardiolipin.

SCIENCE ADVANCES (2023)

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Article Evolutionary Biology

Ancestral State Reconstructions Trace Mitochondria But Not Phagocytosis to the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor

Nico Bremer et al.

Summary: Two main theories, phagotrophic engulfment and microbial symbiosis, have been proposed to explain the origin of mitochondria in eukaryotes. Through ancestral state reconstructions (ASR), it has been found that both phagocytosis and phagotrophy arose after the origin of mitochondria, and these traits have multiple origins across eukaryotes.

GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION (2022)

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Review Ecology

Eukaryogenesis and oxygen in Earth history

Daniel B. Mills et al.

Summary: The origin of mitochondria and the oxygenation of Earth have been found to be decoupled by recent research. The authors review the literature and conclude that eukaryogenesis and the rise of oxygen were separate events, and that obligate aerobiosis in eukaryotes only became widespread in the past 1 billion years.

NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2022)

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Review Cell Biology

Mitochondria as Cellular and Organismal Signaling Hubs

Koning Shen et al.

Summary: Mitochondria, beyond their energy production role, have multiple functions in directing metabolism, stress responses, immunity, and cellular fate. They communicate both intracellularly and extracellularly to accomplish these tasks, providing insight into how dysfunctional mitochondria impact health in disease and aging.

ANNUAL REVIEW OF CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY (2022)

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Review Biology

Endosymbiotic selective pressure at the origin of eukaryotic cell biology

Parth K. Raval et al.

Summary: The dichotomy between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells is significant. The transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes is not well understood, and the role of endosymbiotic organelles in this process has been questioned. Recent findings on asgard archaea have sparked discussions on the complexity of the common ancestor of eukaryotes. This review explores different models that propose either isolated events in asgard archaeal evolution or the role of endosymbiosis in the development of eukaryotic traits.

ELIFE (2022)

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Review Cell Biology

The evolution of autophagy proteins - diversification in eukaryotes and potential ancestors in prokaryotes

Sidi Zhang et al.

Summary: Autophagy is a degradative pathway for cytoplasmic constituents that is conserved across eukaryotes. ATG genes have undergone extensive multiplications and losses in different eukaryotic lineages, resulting in functional diversification and specialization. Bacteria and archaea do not possess an autophagy pathway, but they do harbor some remote homologs of Atg proteins, indicating recruitment of preexisting proteins during eukaryogenesis.

JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE (2021)

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Article Biochemistry & Molecular Biology