What do mitochondria do?
Mitochondria are often referred to as the powerhouses of the cells. They generate the energy that our cells need to do their jobs. For example, brain cells need a lot of energy to be able to communicate with each other and also to communicate with parts of the body that may be far away, to do this substances need to be transported along the cells, which needs lots of energy. Muscle fibres also need a lot of energy to help us to move, maintain our posture and lift objects.
Mitochondria generate chemical energy, similar to the type of energy you get from a battery. The energy made by the mitochondria is in the form of a chemical called adenosine triphosphate or ATP for short. ATP is an energy currency that every cell in our body can use and it keeps us alive. The machinery that the mitochondria use to make ATP is called the electron transport chain. This chain is made up of 4 complexes which are groups of proteins that work together to carry out their function, the 5th complex is responsible for the final step of the energy generation. It is found in the inner mitochondrial membrane and parts of the first, third, fourth and fifth complexes are coded for by the mitochondrial DNA. In order for energy to be generated several steps have to occur.
How mitochondria began?
According to a study from 2014, cells’ powerhouses were once energy parasites.
Parasitic bacteria were the first cousins of the mitochondria that power cells in animals and plants – and first acted as energy parasites in those cells before becoming beneficial, according to a new University of Virginia study that used next-generation DNA sequencing technologies to decode the genomes of 18 bacteria that are close relatives of mitochondria.
Paper:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110685
Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141016165955.htm
Reference:
http://www.newcastle-mitochondria.com/mitochondria/what-do-mitochondria-do/
#mitochondria #research #biology #bacteria
I knew that Mitochondria were symbiotic, but it hadn't occurred to me that they were once separate bacteria. Very interesting. Thanks, Corina. :)
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to use ATP as source of energy for devices, nano and bigger. I don't know of there are projects working on that ...
ReplyDeleteYou should read "Bio-Hybrid Micro/Nanodevices Powered by Flagellar Motor" jesús calvo :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515596/
I have hopes for nanotech :D
That is interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a good time to clean the guitar... :)
Very interesting Corina Marinescu , thanks. Biotechnology future is multidisciplinary for science and engineering and this is thrilling and a good challenge ....
ReplyDeleteEarly cell development is fascinating. It's intuitive to think of the cell as having been a unit since its beginning and that all its parts are intrinsically evolved elaborations. But there are several theories, including the one you mention above about mitochondria, that posit the modern cell is a hybrid of separate replicating precursors. That's pretty damn neat.
ReplyDeleteI have to hunt for any new books on the subject of early cell evolution...
It does cellular respiration, right?
ReplyDeleteI've been fascinated by mitochondria since learning about them in high school, knew all the theories about them originally having been free-living organisms, etc., but until today it had never occurred to me that they might move! In all the electron micrographs I've seen of them they're always (of course) completely static. So I'm absolutely astounded to see the gif showing a mitochondrion writhing. Wow!
ReplyDeleteBodhipaksa Dharmacari, ha! you made me smile :)
ReplyDeleteObviously the animation is exaggerated as I'm sure you know.
I'm sure you saw the real thing already:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpgRGbwu6CM
If these were in batteries for phones, tablets, laptops, servers etc, I wonder what mechanism would be needed to 'feed' them with what they need? Biotech and nano-tech are where the world is going in the future. Computers being 'grown' rather than built. Imagine growing components like we grow corn or rice.
ReplyDeleteHaving never before encountered the notion that mitochondria are motile, it would never have occurred to me that the movement in the image is exaggerated, Corina Marinescu. [Added later: but I can imagine it's speeded up!] Is the gif an animation? It doesn't look like one. Also, the video you linked to, Corina, makes mitochondria seem even more motile than the gif I was originally commenting on! They look like trucks barreling along a highway!
ReplyDeleteSean Walker -- there's a really great book: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Sex-Suicide-Mitochondria-Meaning/dp/0199205647 that talks extensively about why eukaryotes are so dynamic and how much we gained by being parasitized by (probably) rickettsia-like bacteria that became mitochondria.
ReplyDeleteThe video shows mitochondrial movement in the axons of hippocampal neurons, using live-cell imaging.
ReplyDeleteThe gif I posted is just an animation of the mitochondrial movement which is a bit exaggerated Bodhipaksa Dharmacari .