GENERAL BIOLOGY 1

LESSON 2
What are the major differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells?
EUKARYOTIC VS. PROKARYOTIC CELLS
In the previous lesson, it was discussed that all organisms are made up of a single cell or
more. In summary, a cell is a unit of life that contains smaller structures with distinct functions
called organelles and is surrounded by a membrane. In general, cells can be classified as either
prokaryotic or eukaryotic.
The term ‘prokaryotic’ comes from the Greek words ‘pro,’ which
means ‘before,’ and ‘karyon,’ which means ‘nut or kernel,’ referring to the nucleus. The best
example of a prokaryotic cell is the single-celled bacterium, Escherichia coli. It is found in the
human digestive tract. Meanwhile, the term ‘eukaryotic’ comes from the Greek words ‘eu,’
which means ‘true,’ and ‘karyon.’ So from their etymologies, we can somehow deduce their
differences.
Although there have been many proposed methods of classifying organisms throughout
history, the most widely-accepted one is the Three-Domain System, composed of Archaea,
Bacteria, and Eukarya/Eukaryota. A prokaryotic organism can either be a bacterium or an
archaeon.
Archaea and Bacteria were once thought to belong to the same classification, but this is
no longer the case. To this effect, members of Domain Bacteria have been referred to as
Eubacteria, which means “true bacteria.” Conversely, Archaea are not considered “true” bacteria
because the former share some similarities with eukaryotic cells. For instance, archaea possess
introns and utilize enzymes in metabolic pathways that eukaryotes have, but bacteria do not.
←A eukaryotic organism can be a protist (Kingdom Protista), a
fungus (Kingdom Fungi), a plant (Kingdom Plantae), or an animal
(Kingdom Animalia). You will learn more about what makes
each of these kingdoms is unique in General Biology 2.
Differences in Organelles
Prokaryotic cells have no membrane-bound
organelles, unlike eukaryotic cells. However,
prokaryotic cells have unique organelles, such as the
pili (singular: pilus), mainly used for DNA transfer.
Related to pili are the fimbriae, which are shorter, more
numerous, and function in adhering cells to a surface.
Instead of a nucleus, prokaryotes have a space called
the nucleoid region. Some cells have an extra layer of
protection called a capsule. They also have tiny circular
DNA called plasmids.

Aside from those membrane-bound organelles, eukaryotic cells have other unique organelles and
structures. Some eukaryotic cells have centrioles that are important in cell division, while some
have plasmodesmata which serve as intercellular connections.

DIFFERENCES IN GENETIC MATERIAL

In terms of genetic material, the prokaryotic genetic material is simpler and less complex.
It is a short, double-stranded, circular loop of DNA located in the nucleoid region. DNA
supercoils to form a chromosome that, unlike the latter’s eukaryotic counterpart, does not involve
proteins.
 For eukaryotes, the genetic material is also double-stranded and made up of DNA.
However, it is long and linear in form and is located inside the nucleus. Unlike prokaryotic DNA,
eukaryotic DNA is coiled around histone proteins. It also has non-coding regions known as
introns, which are removed during gene expression. The coding regions, on the other hand, are
known as exons. Introns and exons are among the factors that influence genetic diversity.

DIFFERENCES IN RIBOSOMES
Ribosomes are present in all cells. They are composed of rRNA and proteins. Prokaryotic
ribosomes are a bit smaller (70S) than eukaryotic (80S) ones. Svedberg (S) is a unit of
measurement for the rate of settling down of particles in a particular medium. It estimates the
overall size of a particle. In general, the higher the S value, the heavier or larger the molecule.

DIFFERENCES IN SIZE AND COMPLEXITY

In terms of size, prokaryotic organisms are generally smaller and are all microscopic. The
smallest prokaryotic cell is around 200 to 300 nanometers in diameter. Meanwhile, the largest
(Thiomargarita namibiensis) is around 100 to 300 micrometers (100,000 to 300,000 nanometers)
in diameter. For eukaryotic organisms, one of the smallest is around 0.8 micrometer (800
nanometers), and the largest (blue whale) is around 33.6 meters or 33.6 billion nanometers!

In terms of complexity, almost all prokaryotic organisms are unicellular, while some are
colonial or filamentous. Most eukaryotic organisms are multicellular, but others are unicellular,
like yeasts, amoebas, paramecia, and euglena.
A cell’s size is almost always directly related to the number of metabolic activities it
needs to perform to survive. Additionally, cells cannot increase in diameter indefinitely, as there
is an upper limit on how large any cell can get. This can be explained by taking a look at the
concepts of surface area and volume.
 In chemistry and physics, you learned that
area is equal to the product of the length and
the width of an object. An object’s surface
area is simply the sum of all the areas of its
sides. On the other hand, the volume is equal
to the product of length, width, and height.
Because of this, as a particular object grows
larger, its volume will increase much faster
than its surface area.

For a cell to maximize the number of materials that can be transported to and from its
cytoplasm at any given time, the surface area-to-volume ratio must be high. Certain cells have
developed adaptations to accomplish this. Pictured below are some shapes of different bacterial
cells. Cells of different shapes and forms can also be observed in eukaryotes. For instance, a
neuron has a different structure compared to an intestinal cell.

DIFFERENCES IN REPRODUCTION
In terms of reproduction, prokaryotic cells usually
undergo asexual reproduction through binary fission. Although
there are sexual modes of reproduction, it is rarer in prokaryotic
cells. Depending on the species, eukaryotic organisms can
undergo asexual reproduction, sexual reproduction, or both.
Some eukaryotic organisms undergo asexual reproduction like
budding in yeasts, fragmentation in sea stars, and vegetative
reproduction in plants.
Asexual reproduction is arguably far more
straightforward than sexual reproduction, the latter of which will
be discussed in detail in future lessons. For bacteria, however,
there are three main forms of sexual reproduction: conjugation,
transformation, and transduction.
In conjugation, bacterial cells exchange genetic material with each other through their pili. This
mode of sexual reproduction is considered to be the most analogous to how eukaryotes reproduce
sexually. When bacterial cells of two different species exchange genes, the process is known as
horizontal gene transfer. This process is accepted as one of the primary reasons why bacteria are
so diverse.
Meanwhile, in transformation,
prokaryotic cells alter their
characteristics by taking in DNA from
their environment. This is the
primary method by which particular
strains of harmless bacteria may
become potentially harmful. Unlike in
conjugation, there is no direct
physical contact between bacterial cells
in transformation.

On the other hand, transduction is

different from both conjugation and
transformation in that a virus is an agent
that is being used to transfer
genes from one bacterium to another.
Take note that, unlike conjugation,
there is also no contact between the two
bacterial cells.