Liver mitochondria from manganese-deficient and pallid mice: function and ultrastructure.

Oxidative phosphorylation was studied in isolated liver mitochondria from manganese-deficient mice and in those from a mutant strain, pallid. In mitochondria from manganese-deficient mice, ratios of adenosine triphosphate formed to oxygen consumed were normal, but oxygen uptake was reduced. Electron microscopy of these mitochondria revealed ultrastructural abnormalities including elongation and reorientation of cristae. No biochemical or structural abnormalities were found in mitochondria from pallid mice.