Illustrations
Crista stock illustrations
Mitochondria are believed to have originated from an ancient endosymbiotic relationship between a primitive eukaryotic cell and an ancestral aerobic prokaryote (similar to modern-day α-proteobacteria). This symbiosis is supported by the presence of mtDNA, which is distinct from nuclear DNA and resembles bacterial DNA. Mitochondria have their own genetic material (mtDNA) and replicate independently of the cell cycle. In most eukaryotic organisms, mitochondria are inherited maternally.
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