Objective: UPlanSApo 100x oil/1.40	Exposure: 200 ms
Microscope: Olympus DSU/IX81	Gain: 3
Camera: Hamamatsu ImagEM	Interval: 1 s

The mitochondrion is different from most other organelles because it has its own circular DNA (similar to the DNA of prokaryotes) and reproduces independently of the cell in which it is found; an apparent case of endosymbiosis. Scientists hypothesize that millions of years ago small, free-living prokaryotes were engulfed, but not consumed, by larger prokaryotes, perhaps because they were able to resist the digestive enzymes of the host organism. The two organisms developed a symbiotic relationship over time, the larger organism providing the smaller with ample nutrients and the smaller organism providing ATP molecules to the larger one. Eventually, according to this view, the larger organism developed into the eukaryotic cell and the smaller organism into the mitochondrion. In this digital video, Owl monkey kidney epithelial cells (OMK line) were transfected with a mixture of mEGFP fused to a mitochondrial targeting signal (green fluorescence) and DsRed fluorescent protein fused to an endoplasmic reticulum targeting signal (red fluorescence) to observe the interplay between mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum.