Ndugu yangu hii issue ya mitochondria wengi hawajui. Kwamba ipo na DNA yake
Hilo swali mtu aliyebobea pekee anaweza kulijibu.
The most widely accepted theory for how mitochondria entered eukaryotic cells is called endosymbiosis. This theory proposes that billions of years ago, a free-living bacterium capable of aerobic respiration was engulfed by a primitive eukaryotic cell, which lacked the ability to produce its own energy.
Instead of being digested by the host cell, the bacterium survived inside the cell and formed a mutually beneficial relationship with its host. The bacterium provided the host cell with a new source of energy in the form of ATP, while the host cell provided the bacterium with protection and nutrients.
Over time, the bacterium became dependent on the host cell and lost some of its ability to function independently. Its DNA eventually became integrated into the host cell's nuclear genome, and many of its genes were transferred to the nucleus or lost altogether.
This process of endosymbiosis is thought to have occurred multiple times in the evolution of eukaryotic cells, with mitochondria being the most well-known example. Chloroplasts, the organelles responsible for photosynthesis in plants, are also thought to have originated through endosymbiosis.