# Mitochondrial Protein Counts Vary 28-Fold Across the Tree of Life

Source: [The Scientist Atom Feed](https://www.the-scientist.com/mitochondrial-protein-counts-vary-28-fold-across-the-tree-of-life-75253) · 2026-11-14 · Life
Page: https://themorning.science/story/mitochondrial-protein-counts-vary-28-fold-across-the-tree-of-life-ae509095a43b0684
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- An eight-organism comparison found mitochondrial protein counts vary about 28-fold across the tree of life.
- One parasite's mitochondrion makes no energy at all, according to the study as reported.
- Some organisms have mitochondrial proteomes that rival or exceed the size of the human mitoproteome.

## Why it matters

The results show that mitochondrial protein content differs widely between species, so findings from one model organism may not generalise to others.

## Coverage

- [Mitochondrial Protein Counts Vary 28-Fold Across the Tree of Life](https://www.the-scientist.com/mitochondrial-protein-counts-vary-28-fold-across-the-tree-of-life-75253) — The Scientist Atom Feed, 2026-11-14

Tags: mitochondria, proteomics, evolution, parasites, cell-biology

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science