Multiple Choice
In the context of the evolution of the eukaryotic cell (endosymbiotic theory), mitochondria most likely originated from which ancestral organism?
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1. Overview of Cell Biology
Evolution of the Cell
Multiple Choice
According to the endosymbiotic theory, how did chloroplasts end up in producers’ cells?
A
Producers inherited chloroplasts from viruses that integrated into the nucleus and later budded off as organelles
B
An ancestral eukaryotic cell engulfed a photosynthetic prokaryote (such as a cyanobacterium) that survived and became a chloroplast
C
Chloroplasts formed de novo from infoldings of the plasma membrane in early plant cells
D
Chloroplasts evolved directly from mitochondria after mitochondria acquired chlorophyll-producing genes
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand the endosymbiotic theory, which explains the origin of certain organelles in eukaryotic cells, such as mitochondria and chloroplasts, through a symbiotic relationship between early eukaryotic cells and prokaryotes.
Recognize that chloroplasts are believed to have originated when an ancestral eukaryotic cell engulfed a photosynthetic prokaryote, like a cyanobacterium, which was not digested but instead survived inside the host cell.
Note that this engulfed photosynthetic prokaryote provided the host cell with the ability to perform photosynthesis, and over time, it evolved into the chloroplast, becoming a permanent organelle within the eukaryotic cell.
Eliminate other options by understanding that chloroplasts did not arise from viruses, nor did they form de novo from plasma membrane infoldings, and they did not evolve directly from mitochondria.
Summarize that the key concept is the engulfment and retention of a photosynthetic prokaryote by an ancestral eukaryotic cell, which is the foundation of the endosymbiotic theory explaining the origin of chloroplasts.
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