Eddy Egan December 6, 2006

Tuliszewski Period ½
The Endosymbiont Hypothesis

How did eukaryotes arise in today’s time? The Answer, Prokaryotes. This is what

is explained in this endosymbiontic hypothesis. The endosymbiotic hypothesis is about

the origin of mitochondria and plastids; organelles of eukaryotic cells. The theory states

that organelles originated from separate prokaryotic organisms which were then brought

into the cell as endosymbionts. Instead of being digested, the bacteria developed a

symbiotic relationship with their host. This is where its name originated since it derives

from, symbiosis in which one organism lives enclosed within another. The majority of the

bacterial genes were lost and the host used the bacteria as new components of the cells,

organelles. The endosymbiotic theory was first proposed by Andreas Schimper in 1883.

These assumptions were at first thrown out due to assumptions that mitochondria and

plastids did not contain DNA. Later, this was proven false, brought up again, and then the

theory had been publicized true by Lynn Margulis who in 1996 said, "Life did not take

over the globe by combat, but by networking and cooperation.”

After the discoveries it was proven that mitochondria developed from

proteobacteria and chloroplasts from cyanobacteria. Proof of this theory includes:

mitochondria and plastids consisting of some DNA that is circular in shape, double

membranes, some of which compare to prokaryotic cells, their ribosome’s are more

similar to bacterial than eukaryotic cells, the mitochondria and plastids only being formed

by something that resembles binary fission and many other examples that have all aided

in the proving of this theory. The other organelles have less understood origins and are

not as clear as mitochondria and plastids some even say that the nucleus was an
endosymbiont, but in that case it has lost all of its bacterial characteristics. Maybe

someday in our future we will find our answers but for now we will do just fine.