A Comparison of Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic Cells

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A Comparison of Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic Cells

There are two main types of cells in the world. The simplest cells such as bacteria are known as Prokaryotic cells, and human cells are known as Eukaryotic cells. The main difference between each of these cells is that a eukaryotic cell has a nucleus and a membrane bound section in which the cell holds the main DNA which are building blocks of life.

Prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus. The chromosomes which are found in prokaryotes are usually spread in the cytoplasm. In eukaryotic cells the chromosomes remain together inside the nucleus and there is a clear nuclear membrane that is surrounding the nucleus.

Another difference between the two cells is that, in prokaryotic cells there is cytoplasmic movement; however there is no cytoplasmic movement in eukaryotic cells.

Prokaryotic cell: have no membrane covered organelles, they also have circular DNA and bacteria, Eukaryotic cell: have membrane covered organelles, they also have linear DNA and all other cells. Also the cell cycle is short in prokaryotic cells, roughly taking about 20-26 minutes to complete. And in eukaryotic cells, the cell cycle is long, it usually takes about 12-24 hours to complete. Below is a table of some of the differences between the cells:

The nucleus is often the largest organelle found in a Eukaryotic cell with a size of 10-20 un. It is surrounded by two membrane layers which can be identified on the diagram below. Within the nucleus structure are small pores with a size of 100un in diameter. These pores together make up around one third of the nuclear membrane surface area.

The nucleus contains genetic material that controls all the activities within a cell. A nucleus is made up of D...

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...erial.

Function of lysosomes:

- Breaks large molecules into small molecules by inserting a molecule of water into the chemical bonding.

This organelle is the site of photosynthesis in plants and other organisms. In the structure, the chloroplasts has a double membrane, the outer membrane has a continuous boundary. This organelle can be found in a vast group of organelles called the plastid, chloroplasts are usually found in many plant cells but never in animal cells. Chloroplasts organelles are large; they are 4-10um long and 2-3um wide. They are very important to plants because chloroplasts are what plants use to create food from sunlight. Chloroplasts are not found in humans.

Structure of chloroplasts:

- made up of a double layer of modified membrane

Function of chloroplasts:

- Site of photosynthesis in plants and other similar organisms

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