What is the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
Answer:
Prokaryotic cells:- Most primitive, earliest form of life
- Do not have a pre-defined nucleus
- Chromosomes are dispersed in the cytoplasm
- Contain no membrane-bound organelles
- Have circular chromosomes and lack histone proteins
- Most metabolically diverse
- Small - typically 1 - 5 micrometers in diameter
- Have a primitive cytosketetal structures or don't have a cytoskeleton at all
- Smaller (70S) ribosomes
- Don't undergo meiosis but reproduce sexually by the transfer of DNA fragments through conjugation
Eukaryotic cells:- More complex, evolved organsims
- Contain true nuclei in which chromosomes are compacted as chromatin
- Contain membrane-boundorganelles
- Have linear DNA and contain histone proteins
- Larger - typically 10-100 micrometers in diameter
- Have a complex cytosketeton
- Larger (80S) ribosom
- Reproduce sexually with the use of meiosis