Mitochondria-Kevin Barteau

Mitochondria

By: Kevin Barteau

Main ideas

-power generators of the cell

-preforms cellular respiration

-have two membranes and the inner one has folds called cristae for more surface area to make more reactions

Reflection:

Even though we went over this in class I learned a lot about mitochondria during my research on the subject that we never talked about. First I learned that the inside of the inner membrane is called the matrix and the area between the inner membrane and outer membrane is called the inter-membrane space. The next thing I learned was that when mitochondria where discovered in the 1800s, the scientists of the time believed that they transmitted hereditary information and this belief went on for many years. It wasn't until the 1950s that the modern understanding of mitochondrial function was worked out. The most surprising thing I found was that a mitochondrion has its own circular DNA and can reproduce independently of the cell its in. This is said to be a case of endosymbiosis and has lead scientists to hypothesize that millions of years ago small free-living prokaryotes were engulfed, but not consumed, by larger prokaryotes. The two organisms developed a symbiotic relationship over time, the larger organism providing the smaller with ample nutrients and the smaller organism providing ATP molecules to the larger one. These two would eventually become a eukaryotic cell and a mitochondrion.

citations:

-"Molecular Expressions Cell Biology: Mitochondria." Molecular Expressions Cell Biology: Mitochondria. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2016. 

-"Mitochondria." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.