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The origin and early evolution of mitochondria

Michael W Gray1*, Gertraud Burger2 and B Franz Lang2

Author Affiliations

1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H7, Canada

2 Département de biochimie, Université de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada

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Genome Biology 2001, 2:reviews1018-reviews1018.5 doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-6-reviews1018

Published: 5 June 2001

Abstract

Complete sequences of numerous mitochondrial, many prokaryotic, and several nuclear genomes are now available. These data confirm that the mitochondrial genome originated from a eubacterial (specifically α-proteobacterial) ancestor but raise questions about the evolutionary antecedents of the mitochondrial proteome.