Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Eukaryotic cells are some 10,000 times larger than prokaryotic cells by volume, have their DNA organised in a nucleus, and contain membrane-bound organelles. The division between prokaryotes and eukaryotes has been considered the most important distinction or difference among organisms.
The nucleoid (meaning nucleus-like) is an irregularly shaped region within the prokaryotic cell that contains all or most of the genetic material. [1] [2] [3] The chromosome of a typical prokaryote is circular, and its length is very large compared to the cell dimensions, so it needs to be compacted in order to fit.
Cells are broadly categorized into two types: eukaryotic cells, which possess a nucleus, and prokaryotic cells, which lack a nucleus but have a nucleoid region. Prokaryotes are single-celled organisms such as bacteria , whereas eukaryotes can be either single-celled, such as amoebae , or multicellular , such as some algae , plants , animals ...
In prokaryotic cells, which have no nuclear compartment, the processes of transcription and translation may be linked together without clear separation. In eukaryotic cells, the site of transcription (the cell nucleus ) is usually separated from the site of translation (the cytoplasm ), so the mRNA must be transported out of the nucleus into ...
The term plasmid was coined in 1952 by the American molecular biologist Joshua Lederberg to refer to "any extrachromosomal hereditary determinant." [11] [12] The term's early usage included any bacterial genetic material that exists extrachromosomally for at least part of its replication cycle, but because that description includes bacterial viruses, the notion of plasmid was refined over time ...
Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. [1] The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in reinforcing the DNA during cell division , preventing DNA damage , and regulating gene expression ...
Prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) usually undergo a vegetative cell division known as binary fission, where their genetic material is segregated equally into two daughter cells, but there are alternative manners of division, such as budding, that have been observed. All cell divisions, regardless of organism, are preceded by a single round of ...
It was later discovered that prokaryotic cells, which do not have a nucleus, also contain nucleic acids. The role of RNA in protein synthesis was suspected already in 1939. [ 75 ] Severo Ochoa won the 1959 Nobel Prize in Medicine (shared with Arthur Kornberg ) after he discovered an enzyme that can synthesize RNA in the laboratory. [ 76 ]