Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (65 page)

Alzheimer’s disease 298

amino acids 10

amoeba, phagocytosis, and the cytoskeleton 35, 38–9, 44

Amoeba dubia
31, 121, 186

Anbar, Ariel 62

Andersson, Siv 44, 45, 49–50, 116, 117

antibiotics, effects on bacteria 38, 41

antioxidants and lifespan 274–7, 303–4

apoptosis (programmed cell death) 5, 191

balance with cell division 204

caspases 206–7

cells with faulty mitochondria 296

control by mitochondria 5, 202, 207–11

death genes 205–7

embryo development 203–4

failure as cause of cancer 5, 202 205–7

human body 215

immune function and 204

machinery used to signal fusion 221–5

origin of the term 204

origins of apoptotic proteins 212

role of cytochrome c 209–11, 260

sequence of events 204–5

threshold for 296, 299–300

triggers for 207–11

Archaea (prokaryotes) 28–9, 39–41

see also
methanogens

archezoa (eukaryotes without mitochondria) 41–4, 46–7

asteroids, as source of organic material 95–6

ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
77
, 79

‘high energy’ bond 80–1

mechanisms of ATP synthesis 81–4, 93

product of fermentation 79–80

product of photosynthesis 80

product of respiration 80

reservoir of potential energy 79–81

ATP pump, evolution in eukaryotes 61

ATPase (ATP synthase)
77
, 82,
83

mechanism of ATP formation 90–1

proton-motive force 86–7,
87

reversal of synthesis process 91, 93

structure of 90–1

Attardi, Giuseppe 286–7, 293

Avery, Oswald 29

bacteria (prokaryotes) 8–9, 29–30

autotrophic 21–2

cell as the unit of selection 193–8

common inheritance with eukaryotic cells 35

competitive selection pressures 130

C-value (total DNA content) 31

death proteins 215–18

differences to eukaryotic cells 30–5

diversity without complexity 109

DNA 9, 10, 31–2, 115

energy sources 91

gene gain by lateral gene transfer 118–21

gene loss 116–19, 120–1

genome size 31, 115, 120–1

living inside other bacteria 59

locomotion using proton-motive force 92–3

loss of cell wall 38–9, 122–5

membrane transport systems 85–7,
87

multicellular colonies 25

proton-motive force 91–3

selfish gene concept 193–8

size and complexity limitations 121–3, 127, 128,
128
, 144–7

size of 30

species definition 119–20

speed of cell division 114–15

structure
33
, 34–5

sulphate-reducing 28–9

surface area-to-volume ratio 121–2

survival in extreme conditions 21–2

Barja, Gustavo 277, 304, 306–7

Barritt, Jason 263

bats, energy requirements for flight 308–9

Bdellovibrio
59, 213

Benda, Carl 13

Bennett, Albert 180–1

bioenergetics 6, 67–70

biophilic universe 22

birds:

degenerative diseases 271–2

energy requirements for flight 308–9

lifespan and metabolic rate 269, 270,
271

reduction of free-radical leakage 304, 305–7

Bishop, Charles 169

Black Sea, stratification 62–3

‘black smokers’ (hydrothermal vents) 99–100, 100 n.

Blackstone, Neil 219, 221–3, 224–5

body mass, and metabolic rate 156–61,
160
, 270,
271
;
see also
size increase

bone, strength-to-weight scaling 174–5

Bowler, James 253

Brand, Martin 183

Brody, Samuel 159, 167

Brown, James 160–6, 168

Buchner, Louis 78–9

Buss, Leo 198

Caenorhabditis elegans
(nematode) 205–7

Calment, Jeanne 270 n.

calorie restriction, and lifespan 276–7, 306, 308

cancer 5, 200–2, 204, 215

Cann, Rebecca 242, 244–7

capillary density, and tissue demand 171–3

caspases 206–7, 212

catalysts 73, 95, 99–102

enzymes (biological catalysts) 78–9

Cavalier-Smith, Tom 36–7, 38, 41–2, 221

cell, as the unit of selection 193–8, 201

cell biology 8–11

cell death, necrosis 203, 205;
see also
apoptosis

cell membranes, evolution of 98–102,
101
, 103–4, 133–5

cell organelles, as symbionts 13–14

cell wall, loss of 34–5, 38–40, 122–7

chemiosmosis 7, 68, 86

chemiosmotic hypothesis of respiration 86–91

chlorophyll, absorption spectrum 75

chloroplasts 13–14, 15, 33–4, 132

chromosomes 9–10

combinations of X and Y 229–31

number anomalies 262–3

telomeres and ageing 272

Clark, Graham 46–7

coenzyme Q
77

coenzymes 76,
77

colonies of cells 198, 215

complexity, evolution of 151–5, 185–7

convergent evolution 56

Conway Morris, Simon 23, 24, 217

Cope’s Rule 154

Cormack, James 203

Cosmides, Leda 237

Crick, Francis 9, 10, 68

Cummins, Jim 253

Currie, Alastair 203

Cutler, Richard 276

C-value (total DNA content) 31

C-value paradox 31, 186

cyanobacteria 34

cytochrome c 74, 76,
77
, 209–11, 260

cytochrome c gene 211–12

cytochrome oxidase 76,
77
, 141–3, 290–1

cytochromes 74–5

cytology 8–11

cytoplasmic heredity 15

cytoskeleton, presence in some bacteria 38–9

Danielli, James 15

Darveau, Charles-Antoine 176

Darwin, Charles 151–2, 191, 238

Darwinian evolution 107–13

Darwinism, neo-Darwinism, ultra-Darwinism 192, 196–8

Dawkins, Richard 24, 35, 192–4, 196–8, 252

de Duve, Christian 27, 29

de Gray, Aubrey 279–80

degenerative diseases,
see
age-related (degenerative) diseases

Dennett, Daniel 111

diabetes, vulnerability to 255–6

DNA 9–11, 31, 68, 94;
see also
mitochondrial DNA

Dodds, Peter 167

Drosophila
metabolic rate 270

Dunnet, George 269

ectothermy 178, 179

Else, Paul 181

Embley, Martin 52–3

embryo, selection of mitochondrial genes 262–5

Emory classification 254

endosymbiosis 13–14, 51, 109–13,
112

endothermy:

advantages of 178, 179

aerobic capacity hypothesis 180–5

birds and mammals 179, 180–1

dangers of free-radical formation 182–3

energetic costs 179–80

heat generation by proton leakage 183–4

and metabolic rate 180–5

energetic efficiency, and size 173–6, 185–7

energy, in molecular bonds 73

energy generation: bacteria 67

human body 67

redox reactions 72

the sun 67

see also
ATP; proton-motive force

Engelhardt, Vladimir 79–80

Enquist, Brian 160–3

Entamoeba histolytica
(cause of amoebic dysentery) 43, 46–7

enzymes (biological catalysts) 10–11, 78–9, 95

eukaryote evolution 25–6

drive for size and complexity 29–30, 125–7, 151–5

free radicals used to signal fusion 221–5

gene transfer
58–9
, 59–61

predation 126–7

selection pressures 56–7, 61–3

eukaryote origins 19, 131–5, 145–7

bottleneck thesis 27–9

common inheritance with bacteria 35

fusion of host cells 219–21

gene sequencing used to identify 47–8

hydrogen hypothesis 36–7, 51–64,
54
,
58–9

death apparatus 211–14, 215–19

loss of cell wall 34–5, 38, 125–7

mainstream view of origin 36–7, 38–50

mitochondria and 5–6

mitochondrial manipulation 219–21

‘Ox-Tox’ hypothesis 45–6, 49–50

possible form of first cell 49–50

possible initial bacterial association 44–6

possible methanogen ancestor 48–50, 51–64

possible origin by parasitic infection 44–6, 216–18

source of machinery of death 211–14

eukaryotic cells:

cell membranes 133–5

C-value (total DNA content) 31

differences to bacterial cells 8–10, 30–5

DNA arrangement 32

energetic cost of complexity 32

genes for archaeal lipids 135

genome size (total number of genes) 31

internal cytoskeleton 34–5

membrane structures inside 32–4,
33

nuclear membrane 32–3,
33