Newly discovered, free-living eukaryote is the first known to have lost its mitochondria

An international team of geneticists and molecular biologists has discovered the first-known, free-living eukaryote to have lost its mitochondria. In their study, published in Nature Communications, the group found the eukaryote while investigating the patterns and processes of genome and mitochondrion-related organelles' evolution in metamonads in water samples collected from saltwater lakes and shallow marine environments.