A new study has revealed that single-celled protists may have been the first organisms to acquire mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells in animals that produce energy. This discovery could potentially rewrite the evolutionary history of mitochondria and the animals they inhabit. The study, published in Nature, examined the genomes of a variety of protists—single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus—from a diverse range of environments. The researchers discovered that certain protists have genes that are essential for the functioning of mitochondria, suggesting that these protists were the first to acquire the organelles. This finding adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests the mitochondria found in animals are descended from a single-celled ancestor.

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source: Phys.org