Farming the Mitochondrial Ancestor As a Model of Endosymbiotic Establishment by Natural Selection

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2018 Feb 1

PMID 29382768

Citations 18

Authors

Istvan Zachar

Andras Szilagyi

Szabolcs Szamado

Eors Szathmary

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The origin of mitochondria was a major evolutionary transition leading to eukaryotes, and is a hotly debated issue. It is unknown whether mitochondria were acquired early or late, and whether it was captured via phagocytosis or syntrophic integration. We present dynamical models to directly simulate the emergence of mitochondria in an ecoevolutionary context. Our results show that regulated farming of prey bacteria and delayed digestion can facilitate the establishment of stable endosymbiosis if prey-rich and prey-poor periods alternate. Stable endosymbiosis emerges without assuming any initial metabolic benefit provided by the engulfed partner, in a wide range of parameters, despite that during good periods farming is costly. Our approach lends support to the appearance of mitochondria before any metabolic coupling has emerged, but after the evolution of primitive phagocytosis by the urkaryote.

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