Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (66 page)

nucleus 30–1, 133–5

organelles
33
, 33–4

size of 30

structure 9–11

Euler, Hans von 79

evolution:

biophilic nature of the universe 22

contingency versus convergency 23–4

gene-centred approach 192–8

macro-mutations 30

multicellular organisms 24–6

and purpose 107–8

religious view of 107, 151–2

exercise paradox (of ageing) 273, 306

Eyre-Walker, Adam 248–9

fermentation 78–9

evolution of 95–8

and phagocytosis 127

synthesis of ATP 79–80

flight, evolution of 23–4, 308–10

forensic use of mitochondria 3, 250–1

Fox, George 40

fractal model, geometry of supply networks 161–70, 171, 181 n.

Frade, José 213, 217, 218

free radicals 92, 172

formation of 140–2, 182–3

and mitochondrial mutations 278–80, 292–6

free-radical detection system 142, 310

free-radical leakage 4, 289

and ageing 272–3, 274–5, 277, 303–11

mitochondrial feedback signal 290–1, 302–3

and mitochondrial spare capacity 306–11

sexual fusion initiation 221–6

threshold for apoptosis 299–300

Galileo 175

Galton, Francis 252

gene, as unit of selection 192–8

gene number:

asexual limit 153

and sex 153, 186–7

gene sequencing:

archezoa 42–3

search for the prototype eukaryote 47–8

gene transfer:

bacterium to host
58–9
, 59–61

from mitochondria to the nucleus 16, 47, 131–2

origin of the eukaryotes
58–9
, 59–61

origin of the nucleus 134

genes 9, 10

accumulation and size increase 186–7

loss 116–17

mutation 10, 194, 200–1

see also
mitochondrial genes

genome 10

duplication or union of 108–9, 110, 197

generation of random variation 108, 109

human genome project 68, 132–3

human mitochondrial genome 16, 281

increasing the number of genes 108–9

Giardia lamblia
(intestinal parasite) 43, 47

glucose, oxidation process 72, 73, 76–7

Goldschmidt, Richard 29–30

Gould, Stephen Jay 22–3, 57, 111, 152–3, 280

Gram-negative bacteria 122–3 n.

Green, Douglas 219

Gutteridge, John 275

Hackstein, Johannes 52 n.

haemoglobin pigment 73–5

Hagelberg, Erika 249

Haldane, J. B. S 154–5, 171, 192, 271, 285, 297

Hall, Alan 102

Halliwell, Barry 275

Hamilton, William 192, 221, 234

Harden, Sir Arthur 79

Harman, Denham 274–5, 278

Harold, Franklin 92, 103, 195–6

heart disease, vulnerability to 255–6

heat production, by uncoupling respiration 92, 183–4, 254–6, 305–6

Helmholtz, Hermann von 73

Hemmingsen, A. M. 167

hermaphrodite lifestyle 232–3, 238

Heusner, Alfred 159, 167

Heyerdahl, Thor 246

histones 10, 32, 48–9

Hochachka, Peter 176

Horovitz, Bob 204

Hulbert, Tony 181

human evolution:

mitochondrial DNA studies 244–7

‘Out of Africa’ hypothesis 242–3, 246

population genetic studies 243–4

human genome project 68

nuclear mitochondrial sequences (numts) 132–3, 252 n.

human mitochondrial genome 16, 135–9, 141–4, 281

Huntington’s disease 285, 298

Hurst, Laurence 234

Hussein, Saddam, identification of 4

Hutchison, Clyde, III 235–6

Huxley, Sir Julian 175

hydrogen hypothesis (for the eukaryote progenitor) 36–7, 51–64,
54
,
58–9
, 131, 133–4, 216, 223

hydrogen sulphide, stratification of oceans 62–3

hydrogenosomes 52–3,
54
, 55–6, 144

hyperthermophiles 100

immune function, and apoptosis 204

infertility 260

male cytoplasmic sterility 238

male infertility (asthenozoospermia) 256

ooplasmic transfer 4, 240, 264

intelligence, evolution of 23, 24

iron, as a catalyst 73–4

iron-sulphur minerals, and the first cells 99–102,
101
, 103–4

isoprenes 99, 135

isoprenoids 135

Jacob, François 114

Jacobs, Howard 299–300

Jaffe, Bernard 71

Jagendorf, André 89–90

Jansen, Robert 263

Jones, Laura 38

Joule, James Prescott 73

Kalckar, Herman 80

Karr, Timothy 239

Keilin, David 74–7, 85, 209

Kennedy, Eugene 13, 72

Kerr, John 203

Khrapko, Konstantin 250

Kingsbury, B. F. 13, 72

Kirkwood, Tom 278

Kleiber, Max 159–60, 163, 167

Kleiber’s law 159–60,
160
, 163, 166–8

Knoll, Andrew 62

Konstantinidis, Konstantinos 115

Krebs, Sir Hans 76 n.

Krebs Cycle 76

Kroemer, Guido 208

Lake Mungo fossil 251–3

Larsson, Nils-Göran 299–300

Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent 71–2, 78

Lehninger, Albert 13, 72

life on earth, origin of 21, 22, 29, 103–4

lifespan:

and antioxidants 274–7

disposable soma theory 278

extension of 297–8

and fecundity 278

and metabolic rate 269–70,
271
, 272–3

see also
ageing

Linnane, Anthony 285–6

Lipmann, Fritz 80

Lohman, Karl 79

Lovelock, James 197

LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) 97–9

Macauley, Vincent 249

MacMunn, Charles 74

macro-mutations 30

male cytoplasmic sterility 238

male infertility (asthenozoospermia) 256

Mandelbrot, Benoit 161

Margulis, Lynn 5, 14–16, 30, 36, 51, 124, 196–8, 213–14

Martin, Bill 36–7, 52–61, 97, 98–9, 100, 133–5

Marx, Karl 203

Maynard Smith, John 111, 120, 192, 248–9

Mayr, Ernst 197

Medawar, Peter 285, 297

membranes:

active transport systems 85–7,
87
, 92

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

inorganic 99–102,
101
, 103–4

lipid 98–9

uses for the proton-motive force 91–2

Mendel’s laws (Mendelian inheritance) 281, 284

Merezhkovskii, Konstantine 111,
112

metabolic rate:

and ageing 158, 269–70, 272

birds 269, 270,
271

and body mass 156–61,
160
, 168–70, 173–6

ecological effects 158

evolutionary effects 158

and heat loss 159

and lifespan 269–70,
271
, 272–3

limitations of supply networks 161–6, 168–70, 181

n. link between resting and maximum rates 168–70, 180, 182, 184

marsupials 184

rats and humans compared 156–7

‘universal constant’ 159–60,
160
, 163, 166–8, 184

methanogens 28–9, 40, 48–50, 51–64,
54

Meyerhof, Otto 79

Michaelidis, Theologos 213, 217, 218

Michiels, Nico 233

microsporidia (parasitic eukaryotes) 43, 47

Miller, Stanley 95

minerals, as catalysts for early life 95, 99–102

Miquel, Jaime 278–9

Mitchell, Peter 7, 68, 84–90, 92, 123, 197 n.

mitochondria:

and aerobic capacity increase 181–2

‘anaerobic’ forms 53–5, 55–6

apoptosis enforcement 5, 191, 202, 207–12, 303

bacterial ancestry 5, 13–17, 33–4, 52–3, 55–6

chemiosmosis 7, 68, 86

division and fusion 12, 220, 294

electrical charge across the inner membrane 89

in eukaryotic cells 25–6

in the evolution of eukaryotes 5–6, 17–18, 25–6

in the evolution of size and complexity 147

forensic use of 3, 250–1

free-radical leakage and ageing 272–3, 274–5, 277

free-radical signal feedback system 142–4, 221–6, 290–1

functions of 1, 3, 13

heat and energy production 254–6

loss of independence 218–19

in mammalian organs 182

manipulation of host cell 219–21

maternal line inheritance 3, 234–41, 244, 245, 247, 261–2

names for 13

need for two sexes 6, 232–41, 261–2

numbers in different types of cells 1, 3, 4, 11–12

pH gradient across the inner membrane 89

possible parasitic ancestry 216–18

proof of existence of 12–13

relationship to hydrogenosomes 52–3

relationship to α-proteobacteria 48

retrograde response 293

sexual fusion initiation 221–6

size and structure 1, 3, 11,
12