抄録
Mitochondrial division is fascinating problem for researchers of several fields, such as studies of apoptosis, evolution of eukaryotes and molecular motors. Although mitochondria show complex morphology with high plasticity in most organisims, the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae retains one mitochondrion per cell with simple round morphology. Furthermore, division of the mitochondria can be synchronized, and involves observable division apparatus, named mitochondrion dividing (MD) ring. We show the detailed localization of the two factors for mitochondrial division; FtsZ and dynamin to propose that mitochondrial division is composed of three steps driven by different factors; placement, constriction and severance by FtsZ, MD ring and dynamin, respectively. Recently, plastid also has been shown to involve FtsZ, PD ring and dynamin for the division in similar way. For future studies, the composition of MD and/or PD ring are discussed.
