Back to article: What’s in a name? How organelles of endosymbiotic origin can be distinguished from endosymbionts
FIGURE 2: Symbiont-host integration. (A) Genetic, cellular and metabolic symbiont integration together result in sexual symbiont integration, which can be used to qualitatively distinguish endosymbionts from organelles. (B) Host/symbiont system that is not fully sexually integrated; symbiont species A and B evolved in the same host species – D, host species E and F coevolved with the same symbiont species – C. (C) Fully sexually integrated host/symbiont system, speciation is coupled between symbiont and host.