• Question: Plant cells have mitochondria. Please could you explain to me what mitochondria is?

    Asked by pewdiefan to Callum, Gina, Katie, Michelle, Sam on 15 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Gina Tse

      Gina Tse answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      You’re right, plant cells have mitochondria, animal cells have mitochondria too!

      Mitochondria is sometimes refered as the powerstation of the cell because it creates energy called ‘ATP’, which the cell can use to move around, create things and generally stay alive!

      Mitochondria also have other jobs such as making sure the cell is growing properly and if it doesn’t the cell self destructs to stop further damage.

    • Photo: Katie Howe

      Katie Howe answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      Hello!

      Mitochondria are a bit like little batteries in the cell and make all energy the cell needs to survive. This energy is called ATP and is used by the cell to do all the normal things like grow and divide.

      Another girl in my lab is working on why mitochondria are important for making a good healthy egg cell which has enough energy to survive.

    • Photo: Michelle Linterman

      Michelle Linterman answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      Hi pewdiefan,

      Gina and Katie have given great answers about how mitochondria provide energy for the cell. I just wanted to add that scientists think that once upon a time mitochondria were actually bacteria that lived outside cells. Somehow, thousands of years ago these mitochondria- bacteria entered a cell, and liked it so much that they stayed! The cell gave the mitochondria shelter, and the mitochondria gave the cell energy.

    • Photo: Callum Johnston

      Callum Johnston answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Mitochondria don’t just give the cell energy though, they have lots of other jobs too. The control the levels of some chemicals in the cell to keep them balanced and keep the cell healthy, and they can also release signals which tell the cell to commit suicide if it has been damaged. Normally diagrams show mitochondria as a little bean shaped objects but in real life they can be long, join together with other mitochondria to make big batteries and move about the cell to the places where energy is needed most.

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