Mitochondria: a historical review.

Known for over a century, mitochondria have become during the last three decades an important subject of research within several disciplines of experimental biology .For the cytologist, they represented the ideal test objects for applying electron microscopy to the exploration of cellular ultrastructure and for the elaboration of tissue-fractionation techniques with the aim of isolating cytoplasmic organelles.For the biochemist, the identification of mitochondria as the site of cell respiration and respiration-linked phosphorylation implied a decisive step towards the resolution and reconstitution of these processes at a molecular level and the elucidation of their relationship to cellular membranes.For the physiologist, mitochondria afforded the first opportunity for an experimental approach to structure-function relationships, in particular those involved in active transport, vectorial metabolism, and metabolic control mechanisms on a subcellular level.And for the molecular biologist, the discovery of mitochondrial DNA and protein synthesis and the study of mitochondrial biogenesis opened up a new chapter of eukaryotic gene expression .The purpose of this review is to give a brief account of these developments by selecting some of the highlights of the long and eventful history of mitochondrial research .Detailed historical accounts are found in numerous monographs (1-7) and review articles (8-12) covering various aspects of the field .