Data Science Reveals Universal Rules Shaping Evolution of Mitochondria and Chloroplasts, and Other, More Recent Endosymbionts

Mitochondria are compartments--so-called “organelles”--in our cells that provide the chemical energy supply we need to move, think, and live. Chloroplasts are organelles in plants and algae that capture sunlight and perform photosynthesis. At a first glance, they might look worlds apart. But an international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of Bergen, have used data science and computational biology to show that the same “rules” have shaped how both organelles--and more--have evolved throughout life’s history. Their results were published on September 16, 2022 in Cell Systems. The open-access article is titled “Evolutionary Inference Across Eukaryotes Identifies Universal Features Shaping Organelle Gene Retention.”