Biology Name: Period:

1. Citation Info:
The Origin of Mitochondria Author(s)

Mitochondria: A Ubiquitous and Source:

Diverse Family of Organelles Date:

© 2006 Nature Publishing Group Embley, T. M. & Martin. W. Eukaryotic evolution, changes
and challenges. Nature 440, 623–630 (2006). All rights reserved.

The mitochondria typical of mammalian 2. a. Define Respire:

cells respire O2 during ATP synthesis,
generating water and carbon dioxide as
end products. The Krebs cycle and the
electron transport chain in the inner
mitochondrial membrane enable the cell
b. Define Synthesis:
to generate about 36 moles (mol) of ATP
per mole of glucose, with the help of O2–
respiring mitochondria.
c. How much ATP is generated from each molecule
of glucose with the help of Oxygen?

d. What are 2 processes in the mitochondria that generate ATP?

In contrast, the mitochondria of many invertebrates (worms like Fasciola hepatica and mollusks
like Mytilus edulis being well–studied cases) do not use O2 as the terminal acceptor during
prolonged phases of the life cycle. These mitochondria allow the anaerobically growing cell to
glean about 5 mol of ATP per mole of glucose, as opposed to about 36 with O2. These organelles
are commonly called anaerobic mitochondria.

3a. What does “anaerobic “ mean?

b. How much ATP is generated from each molecule of glucose without the help of
Oxygen?
Biology Name: Period:

The Endosymbiotic Origin of Mitochondria

The traditional view of the origin of mitochondria posits that the host that acquired the
mitochondrion was an anaerobic nucleus-bearing cell, a cell that was able to engulf the
mitochondrion actively via phagocytosis. This view is linked to the ideas that the initial benefit
of the symbiosis might have been the endosymbiont's ability to detoxify oxygen for the anaerobe
host.

4a.What does “phagocytosis” mean?

b. Define endosymbiosis:

c. In the traditional view of the origin of mitochondria, what are the “endosymbionts”?

d. What was the initial benefit of the symbiosis?

5. Although most DNA is packaged in chromosomes within the nucleus, mitochondria also have a small
amount of their own DNA. This genetic material is known as mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA.

a. Does the presence of mtDNA support or reject the traditional view of the origin of mitochondria?
Explain.

b. MtDNA is passed down from generation to generation via females. Explain why this is true?