Energetics and evolution of anaerobic microbial eukaryotes

Mitochondria and aerobic respiration have been suggested to be required for the evolution of eukaryotic cell complexity. Aerobic respiration is several times more energetically efficient than fermentation. Moreover, aerobic respiration occurs at internalized mitochondrial membranes that are not constrained by a sublinear scaling with cell volume. However, diverse and complex anaerobic eukaryotes (for example, free-living and parasitic unicellular, and even small multicellular, eukaryotes) that exclusively rely on fermentation for energy generation have evolved repeatedly from aerobic ancestors. How do fermenting eukaryotes maintain their cell volumes and complexity while relying on such a low energy-yielding process? Here I propose that reduced rates of ATP generation in fermenting versus respiring eukaryotes are compensated for by longer cell cycles that satisfy lifetime energy demands. A literature survey and growth efficiency calculations show that fermenting eukaryotes divide approximately four to six times slower than aerobically respiring counterparts with similar cell volumes. Although ecological advantages such as competition avoidance offset lower growth rates and yields in the short term, fermenting eukaryotes inevitably have fewer physiological and ecological possibilities, which ultimately constrain their long-term evolutionary trajectories.