Mitochondria are the nexus of eukaryotic cellular energy metabolism and major signaling hubs that integrate information from within and without the cell to implement cell function. The product of an ancient endosymbiotic event, over millennia mitochondria have co-opted host cell resident resources, and in the process, the host and endosymbiont metabolism have become inextricably linked. Like the prokaryotes from which they are derived, mitochondria have a highly organized ultrastructure and also propagate a small DNA genome, packaged into proteinaceous structures termed 'mitochondrial nucleoids' and distributed throughout dynamic networks. I will discuss how mitochondrial form and function are integrated, the implications for spatiotemporal regulation of mitochondrial genome maintenance, and how these pathways may be co opted by mitochondrial viruses for their own survival.