Researchers map 8,619 mitochondrial proteins in an atlas spanning the tree of life
16 October 2026
Researchers have mapped the proteins that make up mitochondria in six organisms, five single-celled parasites and one plant.
The findings appear in nine papers across the journals Cell, Molecular Cell and Current Biology, and the work was led by Vamsi Mootha of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Boston.
In Giardia lamblia, which infects about 280 million people worldwide each year and causes diarrhoea, the team identified 59 mitochondrial proteins, of which 32 were previously known and 27 are new.
The function of 34 of these Giardia proteins is unknown.
Combining the six organisms with human and yeast data, the researchers compiled 8,619 mitochondrial proteins grouped into 3,199 families, and about 43 per cent of these families are not recorded in the Pfam protein database.
Thirty-three protein families are conserved in eukaryotic pathogens but absent in humans, which Mootha describes as potential ideal drug targets.
In plain words
Mitochondria Mitochondria — The organelles that produce most of a cell's chemical energy, thought to have arisen through endosymbiosis about two billion years ago.
Eukaryote Eukaryote — An organism whose cells have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles, including all plants, animals, fungi and protists.