Life on Earth emerged 3.5 billion years ago as prokaryotes- the simple unicellular organisms. They have a membrane on the outside and floating cellular machineries inside. Life chugged along this way for more than a billion years on Earth. But, 1.8 billion years ago, history witnessed “The Endosymbiotic Event” that led to a quantum leap in the scope and complexity of life. A proteobacteria got engulfed by an archaeon where the bacteria adapted and evolved itself to not only survive but become
indispensable for the archaeal host itself. This event led to the emergence of
eukaryotes, having a membrane bound organelle, called mitochondria, followed by the rise of endomembrane systems marking the cytoplasmic compartmentalization. This would have required mitochondria to evolve intricate mechanisms for exchanging information and materials with the surrounding organelles. While the other organelles acquired mode of vesicular trafficking for intracellular communications, mitochondria had some other plans. My talk will be focused on the various ways by which
mitochondria socialize with other organelles inside the cell in order to maintain not only its own function and integrity, but the overall cellular
homeostasis.
source
The Rise of Mitochondrial Sociology, by Sakshi Shambhavi
