Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A mitochondrion (pl. mitochondria) is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi.Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy. [2]
Mitochondria are essentially universal in the eukaryotes, and with their own DNA somewhat resemble prokaryotic cells. Mitochondria are organelles in eukaryotic cells. The mitochondrion is commonly called "the powerhouse of the cell", [ 30 ] for its function providing energy by oxidising sugars or fats to produce the energy-storing molecule ATP .
Mitochondrial DNA is the small circular chromosome found inside mitochondria. These organelles, found in all eukaryotic cells, are the powerhouse of the cell. [1] The mitochondria, and thus mitochondrial DNA, are passed exclusively from mother to offspring through the egg cell.
This would mean that the ability found in many eukaryotes to engulf materials developed later, rather than being acquired first and then used to engulf the alphaproteobacteria that became mitochondria. [11] The LECA has been described as having "spectacular cellular complexity". [12] Its cell was divided into compartments. [12]
Evidence suggests that mitochondria can also undergo fusion and exchange (in a form of crossover) genetic material among each other. Mitochondria sometimes form large matrices in which fusion, fission, and protein exchanges are constantly occurring. mtDNA shared among mitochondria (despite the fact that they can undergo fusion). [citation needed]
In practice the efficiency may be even lower because the inner membrane of the mitochondria is slightly leaky to protons. [11] Other factors may also dissipate the proton gradient creating an apparently leaky mitochondria. An uncoupling protein known as thermogenin is expressed in some cell types and is a channel that can transport protons.
Three general types of extranuclear inheritance exist. Vegetative segregation results from random replication and partitioning of cytoplasmic organelles. It occurs with chloroplasts and mitochondria during mitotic cell divisions and results in daughter cells that contain a random sample of the parent cell's organelles.
Mitochondrial disease is a group of disorders caused by mitochondrial dysfunction.Mitochondria are the organelles that generate energy for the cell and are found in every cell of the human body except red blood cells.