Friday, October 17, 2014
Bacteria's energy parasite cousins
As most of us know; mitochondria are the "powerhouses" of cells in plants and animals. The big question surrounding these organelles is how did they come about? Older theories suggest that they were just simple bacteria swallowed by host cells that were later integrated into the cells dna as part of the cell itself. However new studies suggest that mitochondria actually used to be parasitic bacteria that used to latch knot host cells and steal energy, and that somewhere along the way the flow of energy got switched around and they became beneficial to cells. I found this interesting because I never thought that mitochondria weren't always a part of cells, because how else did they get energy? But the whole parasite thing is very interesting considering they are now helpful to our cells. Some questions I have about this are how did the energy flow get switched? And how did they get integrated into cells dna in the first place?
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This is something I was oblivious to. I wonder what evidence was found in the studies to suggest that mitochondria used to be parasitic bacteria stealing energy from their host cells. It is an intriguing idea that the relationship that began as a negative, draining correlation then became one of "teamwork" becoming beneficial. Just by assumption, it seems that the older theories suggesting the integration of "the simple bacteria", i.e. mitochondria into cells DNA is more probable but nature works in mysterious ways. Also, one question you stated that seems an important factors, what was the energy source of cells needing chemical energy without mitochondria? How was the cell cycle and cell growth regulated without mitochondria? This is quite a compelling area of interest I'd like to know more about.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! And, completely new to me--great job!
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