Chap 3 Part 2

Comparison between Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic Cells

Prokaryotic Cell Reproduction

 Prokaryotic cell reproduction is quite simple when compared with

eukaryotic cell division.
 Prokaryotic cells reproduce by a process known as binary fission, in
which one cell (the parent cell) splits in half to become two daughter
cells.
 Before a prokaryotic cell can divide in half, its chromosome must be
duplicated (DNA replication), so that each daughter cell will possess the
same genetic information as the parent cell

 The time it takes for binary fission to occur (i.e., the time it takes for one
prokaryotic cell to become two cells) is called the generation time
 The generation time varies from one bacterial species to another
and also depends on the growth conditions (e.g., pH, temperature, and availability of nutrients)
 In the laboratory (in vitro), under ideal conditions, E. coli has a generation time of about 20
minutes-the number of cells will double every 20 minutes
  Bacterial generation times range from as short as 10 minutes to as long as 24 hours, or even
longer in some cases.

Taxonomy

 The science of classification of living organisms

 Consists of three separate but interrelated areas:
 Classification, Nomenclature, and Identification
 Classification
 The arrangement of organisms into taxonomic groups on the basis of similarities or relationships
 Taxa include kingdoms(domains), divisions(phyla), classes, orders, families, genera, and species
 Nomenclature
 The assignment of names to the various taxa according to international rule
 Homo sapiens
 Identification
 The process of determining whether an isolate belongs to one of the established, named taxa or
represents a previously unidentified species
 Know when it is old or new

Microbial Classification

 the science of taxonomy was established, based on the binomial system of nomenclature developed
in the 18th century by the Swedish scientist Carolus Linnaeus
 Carolus Linnaeus
 Used the binomial system of nomenclature
 Genus  1st name
 Capitalized the 1st letter of the word then underline or italicize the word
 Ex. Homo or Homo
 Specific epithet
 Capitalize the 1st letter of genus, specific epithet is not capitalized
 Ex. Homo sapiens or Homo sapiens
 H. sapiens or H. sapiens
 Combination of the two is the species
 To express the species, capitalize the first letter of the genus name (the specific epithet is not
capitalized) and then underline or italicize the entire species name-for example, Escherichia coli
 Frequently, the genus is designated by a single-letter abbreviation; in the example just given, E. coli
indicates the species
 The abbreviation "sp." is used to designate a single species, whereas the abbreviation "spp." is used
to designate more than one species
 In addition to the proper scientific names for bacteria, acceptable terms such as:
 Staphylococci (for Staphylococcus spp.), Streptococci (for Streptococcus spp.), Clostridia (for
Clostridium spp.), Pseudomonads (for Pseudomonas spp.), Mycoplasmas (for Mycoplasma
spp.), Rickettsias (for Rickettsia) Chlamydias (for Chlamydia spp.)
 Nicknames and slang terms frequently used within hospitals are:
  GC and gonococci (for Neisseria gonorrboeae), meningococci (for N. meningitidis),pneumococci
(for S. pneumoniae), staph (for Staphylococcus or staphylococcal), and strep (for Streptococcus
or streptococcal)

 Robert H. Whittaker (1969)

 Proposed the Five-Kingdom System of
Classification: (not widely accepted)
1. Kingdom Prokaryotae (or Monera) –
 Bacteria and archaea
2. Kingdom Protista
 Algae and protozoa
3. Kingdom Fungi
 Fungi
4. Kingdom Plantae
 Plants
5. Kingdom Animalia
 Animals, Humans included
  This has been a popular classification system for the past 30 or so years, but not all accepted it.
 Some scientists do not agree that algae and protozoa should be placed into the same kingdom,
and in some classification schemes, protozoa are placed into a subkingdom of the Animal
Kingdom

 Carl R. Woese (late 1970)

 Devised a Three-Domain System of Classification
 Based on differences in the structure of certain rRNA
molecules among organisms in the three domains: Archaea,
Bacteria and Eucarya
 Two domains of prokaryotes (Archaea and Bacteria)
 One domain of eukaryotes, (Eucarya or Eukara)
 Includes Protozoa, Plants, Animals and Algae

Evolution And
The Tree Of Life

 Many scientists believe that life on Earth

originated and then evolved from what is
commonly referred to as the last universal
common ancestor (LUCA) approximately 3.5
to 3.9 billion years ago
 A popular theory is that highly
energetic chemical reactions
produced self-replicating molecules
(such as RNA) around 4 billion years ago,
which led to the assembly of simple cells,
and then about a half billion years later, the
LUCA existed
 Prokaryotes inhabited Earth from
approximately 3 to 4 billion years
ago, and eukaryotic cells emerged between
1.6 and 2.7 billion years ago
 It is thought that certain bacterial cells were engulfed by eukaryotic cells, leading to a cooperative
association known as endosymbiosis.
 Some endosymbiotic bacteria evolved into mitochondria, whereas others (the photosynthetic
cyanobacteria) evolved into chloroplasts.
 The current "tree of life" (Fig. 3-18) consists of three major domains of organisms, each of which
arose separately from an ancestor with poorly developed genetic machinery. often called a
progenote.
Determining Relatedness Among Organisms

 The most widely used technique for gauging diversity or relatedness is called rRNA sequencing.
 Ribosomes are made up of two subunits: a small subunit and a large subunit
 The small subunit contains only one RNA molecule, which is referred to as the "small subunit rRNA”
or SSUrRNA
 The SSUrRNA in prokaryotic ribosomes is 16S rRNA molecule about 1500 DNA nucleotides – a.k.a
16s rDNA sequence
 The SSUrRNA in eukaryotic ribosomes is 18S rRNA molecule about 2000 DNA nucleotides – a.k.a
18s rDNA sequence
 To determine "relatedness," researchers compare the sequence of nucleotide base pairs in the
gene, rather than comparing the actual SSUrRNA molecules.
 (The “S” in 16S and 18S refers to Svedberg units)
 If the 16S rDNA sequence of one prokaryotic organism is quite similar to the 16S rDNA sequence of
another prokaryotic organism, then the organisms are closely related
 For example, the 18S rDNA sequence of a human is much more similar to the 18S rDNA
sequence of a chimpanzee than to the 18S rDNA sequence of a fungus.