Salmon parasite has no mitochondrial DNA

[pinball1970]

TL;DR

A multi-cellular parasite has been found to have no mitochondrial DNA. This trait was considered ubiquitous in multicellular organisms

This was published in Feb

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/10/5358

The genes relating to mitochondria in this parasite of Salmon are absent which is a first to see in a multi cellular animal.

 

[BillTre]

Other parasites have lost or greatly reduced their mitochondria.
An example is Giardia.
It was thought to be an evolutionary intermediate between cells with mitochondria and those that don't have mitochondria.
Now it is thought to have had mitochondria in the past and then lost them (or had them greatly reduced).