endosymbiont theory
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endosymbiont theory
[‚en·dō′sim·bē‚änt ‚thē·ə·rē] (cell and molecular biology)
A theory that the mitochondria of eukaryotes and the chloroplasts of green plants and flagellates originated as free-living prokaryotes that invaded primitive eukaryotic cells and become established as permanent symbionts in the cytoplasm.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
References in periodicals archive
The
endosymbiotic theory envisions the evolution of the first eukaryotic cells to have resulted from the permanent incorporation of once autonomous, physiologically different prokaryotic cells incorporated into a host prokaryotic cell-type (Kutschera and Niklas, 2004).
No mention is made of the
endosymbiotic theory for formation of mitochondria, although that event would hold several possibilities for discussing artistry, theology, and the methods of a creator.
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