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Mitochondria Research Paper

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Mitochondrion
“Mitochondria are bean-shaped organelles that are known as the powerhouse of all living cells. Their function is initially centered around converting oxygen and other nutrients into adenosine triphosphate or more formally known as ATP”(MoleculeExpressions). ATP is the energy required by cells in order to perform its mandated metabolic activities. This process is also known as aerobic respiration and is the main reason as to why animals are mandated to breathe in oxygen. Without mitochondria, complex organisms would cease to exist because their cells would only be able to obtain energy from anaerobic respiration. This process is known to be much less efficient than aerobic respiration. Using aerobic respiration, these tiny but …show more content…
Scientists concluded that a multitude of years ago small, free-living prokaryotes were engulfed by larger prokaryotes, perhaps because they were able to resist the digestive enzymes of the host organism. The two organisms developed a symbiotic relationship over time. The larger organism providing the smaller with ample nutrients and the smaller organism providing ATP molecules to the larger one. The larger organism developed into what is now known as the the eukaryotic cell and the smaller organism into the …show more content…
Many of metabolic steps of cellular respiration are catalyzed by enzymes that are able to diffuse through the matrix. The other proteins involved in respiration, including the enzyme that generates ATP, which are embedded within the mitochondrial inner membrane. These Infolding of the cristae drastically and efficiently increase the surface area available for hosting the enzymes responsible for cellular respiration.
Mitochondria are similar to plant chloroplasts in that both organelles are able to produce energy and metabolites that are required by the host cell. As discussed above, mitochondria are the sites of respiration, and generate chemical energy in the form of ATP by metabolizing sugars, fats, and other chemical fuels with the assistance of oxygen. Chloroplasts, in difference, are found only in plants and algae, and are the primary sites of photosynthesis. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts also contain their own DNA and are able to grow and reproduce independently within the

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