MITOCHONDRIAL GENOME EVOLUTION AND THE ORIGIN OF EUKARYOTES

Recent results from ancestral (minimally derived) protists testify to the tremendous diversity of the mitochondrial genome in various eukaryotic lineages, but also reinforce the view that mitochondria, descendants of an endosymbiotic α-Proteobacterium, arose only once in evolution. The serial endosy...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of genetics 1999-01, Vol.33 (1), p.351-397
Main Authors: Lang, B. Franz, Gray, Michael W, Burger, Gertraud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Animals
Archezoa
Biological and medical sciences
Biology
Cells
Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
Eukaryotes
Eukaryotic Cells
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Fungi - genetics
gene order
Genetics
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Genomes
genomics
Methods, theories and miscellaneous
Microorganisms
Mitochondria - genetics
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular evolution
Origin
Phylogeny
protists
Space life sciences
α-Proteobacteria
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Recent results from ancestral (minimally derived) protists testify to the tremendous diversity of the mitochondrial genome in various eukaryotic lineages, but also reinforce the view that mitochondria, descendants of an endosymbiotic α-Proteobacterium, arose only once in evolution. The serial endosymbiosis theory, currently the most popular hypothesis to explain the origin of mitochondria, postulates the capture of an α-proteobacterial endosymbiont by a nucleus-containing eukaryotic host resembling extant amitochondriate protists. New sequence data have challenged this scenario, instead raising the possibility that the origin of the mitochondrion was coincident with, and contributed substantially to, the origin of the nuclear genome of the eukaryotic cell. Defining more precisely the α-proteobacterial ancestry of the mitochondrial genome, and the contribution of the endosymbiotic event to the nuclear genome, will be essential for a full understanding of the origin and evolution of the eukaryotic cell as a whole.
ISSN:0066-4197
1545-2948
DOI:10.1146/annurev.genet.33.1.351