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Mitochondrial complementation: a possible neglected factor behind early eukaryotic sex.

Anaïs Tilquin1,2, Joshua R Christie1,2, Hanna Kokko1,2

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cell fusion in early eukaryotes may have evolved because it directly benefited host cells by allowing mitochondria to complement each other, improving fitness and mitigating mutational meltdown.

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eukaryogenesisevolution of cell fusionevolution of sexmitochondrial threshold effect

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Cell biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Meiotic sex in eukaryotes involves cell fusion, distinct from bacterial genetic exchange.
  • Mitochondria were acquired by early eukaryotes before cell fusion evolved.
  • Asexual host cells accumulated lineage-specific mutations due to Muller's ratchet within symbionts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test if cell fusion evolved as a direct benefit to early eukaryotes.
  • To investigate if cell fusion mitigates mitochondrial mutational meltdown.
  • To model the impact of cell fusion on host cell fitness and symbiont inheritance.

Main Methods:

  • Mathematical modeling of cell fusion dynamics.
  • Analysis of host cell fitness based on mitochondrial complementation.
  • Simulation of allele invasion and fixation under varying fusion costs.

Main Results:

  • Cell fusion can invade and fix in a population if it provides a fitness benefit.
  • Costly fusion has thresholds for invasion and fixation, with potential for polymorphic equilibria.
  • Fusion increases heteroplasmy, enabling mitochondrial complementation and enhancing population fitness.

Conclusions:

  • Beneficial interactions between mitochondria likely selected for cell fusion in early eukaryotes.
  • Cell fusion provided a direct advantage by improving mitochondrial function and host fitness.
  • The evolution of cell fusion is linked to mitigating genetic load within mitochondria.