Mitochondria play a critical role in the generation of metabolic energy in eukaryotic cells. As reviewed in Chapter 2, they are responsible for most of the useful energy derived from the breakdown of carbohydrates and fatty acids, which is converted to ATP by the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Most mitochondrial proteins are translated on free cytosolic ribosomes and imported into the organelle by specific targeting signals. In addition, mitochondria are unique among the cytoplasmic organelles already discussed in that they contain their own DNA, which encodes tRNAs, rRNAs, and some mitochondrial proteins. The assembly of mitochondria thus involves proteins encoded by their own genomes and translated within the organelle, as well as proteins encoded by the nuclear genome and imported from the cytosol.