
Scientists Find Microbe That Functions Without Mitochondria - jonbaer
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/12/477691018/look-ma-no-mitochondria
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theophrastus
There's some rather odd terminology use with this one. A "microbe" is any
living organism too small to be seen with the naked eye; so mostly single cell
eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Prokaryotes don't have mitochondria. But to read
this article one would think it's amazing that any microbe lacks mitochondria.
What's interesting here is that they've apparently found a eukaryote which
lacks mitochondria, ("microbe" need not have been mentioned).

I wish they'd also at least hint at endosymbiotic theory[1], which states that
eukaryotic organelles, like mitochondria, may have at one time been separate
organisms and became internal symbiotes later. Then it becomes somewhat easier
to be surprised at an eukaryote, an aggregate organism, lacking a critical
component.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis)

