As I understand it, there are many, many similarities between plastids, mitochondria, and bacteria, enough that it seems very likely that the former two came from some sort of incorporation of the latter. But how did this happen? Beyond the extensive similarities between the organelles and the prokaryotes, do we have more evidence that this happened?
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Microbiologist Kwang Jeon, using artificial selection, created a new endosymbiosis between the eukaryotic Amoeba proteus and its infective bacteria. After many selective generations the amoeba became dependent upon the bacterium, and endosymbiotic gene switching occurred moving genes to the host as predicted by the gene transfer theory. The bacterium went from an independent, self reproductive organism to being an organelle with regulation of its reproduction tied to the amoeba's reproductive cycle.
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoEndosymbiot…
Gene transfer from the mitochondrion into the nucleus
http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/content/fu…
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/conten…
Mitochondria genomes share homology with purple non-sulfur Rickettsia subdivision of Eubacteria.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cach…
Mitochondria are a defining feature of eukaryotic cells that are neither lost nor shuffled between lineages.
Organisms have shuffled plastid derived organelles in several manners giving primary and secondary or serial endosymbiosis.
The endosymbiotic origin, diversification and fate of plastids
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/c…
Algae resulted when host cells engulfed autophototrophic bacteria as a primary endosymbiont. The retained cyanobacteria evolved into the algae’s chloroplasts.
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/eflo…
When the primary endosymbiotic algae are, in turn, taken by eukaryotic hosts, the plastids become secondary endosymbionts with 3 or 4 membranes. Cryptomonad algae, Heterokont algae (kelp etc) and dinoflagellates have secondary plastids from red algae.
Euglenids took up a green algae plastid.
http://plantbio.berkeley.edu/~taylor/pmb…
Certain parasites are non-photosynthetic yet have vestigial plastids, with unknown function. Homology in genetic sequences and other evidence indicates these plastids are from a secondary endosymbiosis with red algae.
http://www.microbugs.org/showabstract.ph…
Recycled plastids: a ‘green movement’ in eukaryotic evolution.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12414…
Cyanelles of Cyanophora paradoxa in the Context of Plastid Evolution. Cyanelles are plastids closer to being bacteria and retain genes for peptidoglycans for cell walls.
http://www.univie.ac.at/ibmz/groups/loef…
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoEndosymbiot…
Gene transfer from the mitochondrion into the nucleus
http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/content/fu…
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/conten…
Mitochondria genomes share homology with purple non-sulfur Rickettsia subdivision of Eubacteria.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cach…
Mitochondria are a defining feature of eukaryotic cells that are neither lost nor shuffled between lineages.
Organisms have shuffled plastid derived organelles in several manners giving primary and secondary or serial endosymbiosis.
The endosymbiotic origin, diversification and fate of plastids
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/c…
Algae resulted when host cells engulfed autophototrophic bacteria as a primary endosymbiont. The retained cyanobacteria evolved into the algae’s chloroplasts.
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/eflo…
When the primary endosymbiotic algae are, in turn, taken by eukaryotic hosts, the plastids become secondary endosymbionts with 3 or 4 membranes. Cryptomonad algae, Heterokont algae (kelp etc) and dinoflagellates have secondary plastids from red algae.
Euglenids took up a green algae plastid.
http://plantbio.berkeley.edu/~taylor/pmb…
Certain parasites are non-photosynthetic yet have vestigial plastids, with unknown function. Homology in genetic sequences and other evidence indicates these plastids are from a secondary endosymbiosis with red algae.
http://www.microbugs.org/showabstract.ph…
Recycled plastids: a ‘green movement’ in eukaryotic evolution.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12414…
Cyanelles of Cyanophora paradoxa in the Context of Plastid Evolution. Cyanelles are plastids closer to being bacteria and retain genes for peptidoglycans for cell walls.
http://www.univie.ac.at/ibmz/groups/loef…