Origin of the Eukaryotic Cell

Abstract

All complex life on Earth is composed of ‘eukaryotic’ cells. Eukaryotes arose just once in 4 billion years, via an endosymbiosis — bacteria entered a simple host cell, evolving into mitochondria, the ‘powerhouses’ of complex cells. Mitochondria lost most of their genes, retaining only those needed for respiration, giving eukaryotes ‘multi-bacterial’ power without the costs of maintaining thousands of complete bacterial genomes. These energy savings supported a substantial expansion in nuclear genome size, and far more protein synthesis from each gene.