As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 79,000 lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed.
Try it risk-freeAlready registered? Log in here for access
Artem has a doctor of veterinary medicine degree.
Once upon a time, long before you were born, there was a little bacterium who was christened Mitochondrion, or Mito for short. Mito was mighty small and was always running away from bigger and badder cells. One day, he was eaten by a big cell. Poor, Mito! You might be wondering; did Mito die?
Actually no, something else happened. But what is it? Who was this little Mito? And what does he do for a living now? It's a mystery we're about to solve.
In the annals of history, scribes have theorized that Mito and his kind, the mitochondria, were likely once free-living bacteria that eventually came to inhabit larger and more complex cells called eukaryotic cells in a mutualistic relationship that gave mitochondria food and protection and the host eukaryotic cells extra energy for their own functions and survival.
The mitochondria are now double-membraned organelles that exist within a eukaryotic cell's cytoplasm, the types of cells that make up our body. The cytoplasm is gel-like and located inside a cell's plasma membrane but outside of the nucleus. And an organelle is simply a membrane-bound structure responsible for a specific function within a cell.
Remember, Mito was mighty small and lots of things, like bigger bacteria, could easily kill him. One day, his luck ran out, or so he thought, and a bigger cell engulfed him. Mito should have died. But, by golly, Mito survived! The bigger cell could not digest him. By a stroke of luck, instead of dying, Mito realized he was stuck inside a big cell that had a lot of food floating around; food that he munched on voraciously. It was also a bigger cell that protected him from some predators that would have killed him for sure. So, Mito found a new home and a new source of food. Who would try and leave that?
In exchange for all that food and protection, Mito repaid his host cell with money like we would any nice bed and breakfast. No, really. Mito exchanged cold hard energy currency for food and board. Once inside the eukaryotic cells, he began to repay his landlord and restaurant, the eukaryotic cell, with a specific kind of energy currency.
This energy currency, called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), is produced by the mitochondria in our body's cells. Think of a mitochondrion, single for mitochondria, as the Department of the Treasury in the U.S. that designs and prints money, as a well as a power plant, all rolled into one little organelle. This energy currency helps pay for and drive our body's many functions including our movement, our heartbeat, and the synthesis of many molecules necessary for our survival.
The way it works, in a jiffy, is that parts of the food we eat are converted by the mitochondrion into ATP much like parts of a tree are converted into paper money. The process by which mitochondria produce ATP is called alternatively the citric acid cycle, Krebs cycle, or tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle; take your pick.
So you see what happened here with little Mito? He got saved from the outside world by accidentally setting up shop inside a eukaryotic cell but he also helps sustain his home's life and processes as well by producing lots of ATP!
But mitochondria have other functions, beyond just energy production. They are involved in:
And many other functions scientists are discovering with every passing year.
Thank goodness for Mito or else we may not exist as a species!
Mito is just a nickname for mitochondrion, the single for mitochondria. Mitochondria were likely once free-living bacteria that eventually came to inhabit larger and more complex cells called eukaryotic cells in a mutualistic relationship that gave mitochondria food and protection and the host eukaryotic cells extra energy for their own functions and survival. The mitochondria are now double-membraned organelles that exist within a eukaryotic cell's cytoplasm.
That's the important gist of it. While mitochondria have many functions, remember that their main function is the production of energy currency called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and that the process by which mitochondria produce ATP is called alternatively the citric acid cycle, Krebs cycle, or tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle.
 |
Once the lesson has been completed, determine how well you can achieve these objectives:
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Already a member? Log In
BackAlready registered? Log in here for access
Did you know… We have over 200 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.
To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page
Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.
Back To Course
Middle School Life Science: Homework Help Resource30 chapters | 197 lessons
{{courseNav.course.topics.length}} chapters | {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}} lessons | {{course.flashcardSetCount}} flashcard set{{course.flashcardSetCoun > 1 ? 's' : ''}}
Watch 5 minute video clips, get step by step explanations, take practice quizzes and tests to master any topic.
Study.com has a library of 750,000 questions and answers for covering your toughest textbook problems
I love the way expert tutors clearly explains the answers to my homework questions. Keep up the good work!
- Maritess, College StudentStudy.com video lessons have helped over 30 million students.
"I learned more in 10 minutes than 1 month of chemistry classes"
- Ashlee P.
"I learned more in 10 minutes than 1 month of chemistry classes"
- Ashlee P.
"I aced the CLEP exam and earned 3 college credits!"
- Clair S.
Over 65 million users have prepared for {{displayNameByProductKey[registrationData.product || testPrepCocoon]}} and other exams on Study.com
"The videos have changed the way I teach! The videos on Study.com accomplish in 5 minutes what would take me an entire class."
- Chris F.
Over 65 million users have prepared for {{displayNameByProductKey[registrationData.product || testPrepCocoon]}} and other exams on Study.com
