Answer
Autophagy ( self-eating) is the process by which worn-out organelles like mitochondria are are digested in lysosmes. Lysosomes are mebbrane bodies that are pinched off from golgi apparatus and produce several types --50 to 60--of hydrolytic enzymes.. A lysosome can can engulf and digest several types of substances and bodies , including cell organelles, in this process of autophagy. After the process of digestion useful digested contents may returned to the cytosol to be reused.
Work Step by Step
When an organelle like a mitochondrion is to be digested by a lysosome, the former becomes wrapped in a membrane produced by the endosplasmic reticulum. The membrane-wrapped body is then a known as an autophagosome. The autophagosome fuses with the lysosome which digests it, and makes the digested contents available for reuse by cells.
