The endosymbiont theory is something that is taught in every biology class. A larger cell gobbled up a smaller bacterial ATP synthesizing cell. Since then, eukaryotic cells rely on this mitochondria as an energy making organelle. Dr. Wu from the University of Virginia proposed a different idea as to how we became such good friends with the mitochondria. He proposes that the bacteria was parasitic, seeking larger cells as hosts. But he shatters the textbooks more. Contrary to popular belief he proposes the parasitic mitochondria stole ATP from the host cell! I must agree that this theory is indeed more parsimonious. (Famous biochemist and author Nick Lane might contend this, check it out HERE.) The article is vague, but leaves much to imagination. For example, if mitochondria were once parasitic organisms, does that mean chloroplasts, another organelle falling under the endosymbiont theory, were also parasites?
What makes this theory come to life is analyzing how parasites attach and then enter cells. For example, the protozoan parasite that is malaria "produce a protein called the tight junction marker and use it to attach to and drill into red blood cells", says Jake Baum from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. Broadly, if protein mechanisms like this were sequenced and compared to mitochondrial DNA, it may be determined just how the mitochondria first entered the cell. After all, mitochondrial DNA is known to be extremely stable and preserved, maybe the perforating mechanism parasites use is unchanged as well. Check out the video below: could it be that billions of years ago, the event that fostered the evolution of plants and animals looks something like this?
No comments:
Post a Comment