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The biochemical adaptations of mitochondrion-related organelles of parasitic and free-living microbial eukaryotes to low oxygen environments.

Tsaousis, Anastasios D. and Leger, Michelle L. and Stairs, Courtney A. W. and Roger, Andrew J. (2011) The biochemical adaptations of mitochondrion-related organelles of parasitic and free-living microbial eukaryotes to low oxygen environments. In: Altenbach, Anastasios D. and Bernhard, Joan M. and Seckbach, Joseph, eds. Anoxia: Evidence for Eukaryote Survival and Paleontological Strategies. Cellular Origins, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, 21 . Springer Netherlands, Netherlands, pp. 51-81. ISBN 978-94-007-1895-1. E-ISBN 978-94-007-1896-8. (doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1896-8_4) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:52912)

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Abstract

While many multicellular anaerobes possess mitochondria that resemble those of aerobic eukaryotes, microbial eukaryotes that live exclusively in anoxic and low oxygen environments harbor mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs). Currently, these organelles are broadly classified as either hydrogenosomes (anaerobic ATP-producing organelles that produce molecular hydrogen) or mitosomes (organelles that do not generate ATP); however, ongoing studies of diverse microbial lineages are revealing a wider spectrum of functional types. In adaptation to low oxygen conditions, the MROs of anaerobic eukaryotes have acquired unique characteristics, some of which do not appear to derive from the ?-proteobacterium that gave rise to the ancestral mitochondrion. These characteristics include alternative pathways for pyruvate metabolism as well as enzymes such as [FeFe]-hydrogenases that collectively function in anaerobic energy metabolism. In addition to these pathways, the mitochondrial protein import, metabolic exchange, and Fe–S cluster biosynthesis machineries are present in all MROs studied to date; these systems support the protein, solute, and energy requirements of both the organelles and the cells that harbor them. MROs represent a unique class of organelles that have successfully adapted by reduction or alteration of existing pathways as well as by acquisition of novel metabolic machineries that allowed their hosts to thrive in diverse environments without oxygen.

Item Type: Book section
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/978-94-007-1896-8_4
Subjects: Q Science > QR Microbiology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Biosciences
Depositing User: Anastasios Tsaousis
Date Deposited: 08 Dec 2015 11:54 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Mar 2023 11:34 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/52912 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Tsaousis, Anastasios D..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5424-1905
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