Mitochondria changes

“There’s an assumption that all mitochondria are more or less the same,” said Christopher Guglielmo, the director of the Center for Animals on the Move at Western University in Ontario. “And that view, especially in the past decade or so, has changed.”

New tools that let scientists study mitochondrial activity have uncovered surprising diversity. 

Some mitochondria produce more ATP than others, or produce it more efficiently. The organelles can fuse or break apart, which changes their shape and performance. 

In some cases, mitochondria can even migrate between cells or specialize for different functions.

These discoveries about mitochondria have led to a new understanding of the evolution of some animal behaviors. 

“It’s really only been in the last decade or so that you’re seeing more and more studies looking at mitochondria from an ecological and evolutionary perspective,” said Wendy Hood, who studies physiological ecology at Auburn University in Alabama. “Mitochondria are certainly an important target of evolutionary processes.”