Recreating the mitochondrial endosymbiosis that gave rise to eukaryotes
Authors: Cara B. Hull 1; Shawn Yang 1; Alessandro L. V. Coradini 1; Wan-Zhen Sophie Lin 3; Lucia C. Dalle Ore 3; Noah Malmstadt 2,3,4; Ian M. Ehrenreich 1
Affiliations: 1) Molecular and Computational Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; 2) Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; 3) Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; 4) Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Keywords: Theory & Method Development
The evolution of mitochondria played a key role in the origin, success, and diversification of eukaryotic life. How this organelle arose and integrated into host cells are fundamental questions in biology. To investigate these questions, we will recreate intermediate steps of nuclear-mitochondrial coevolution. To do this, we have developed methods to clone and genetically engineer intact mitochondrial genomes in yeast. We are now working to transplant these mitochondrial genomes into living cells. I will report on our ongoing progress.