Prokaryote Eukaryote

Nucleus Absent Present

Membrane-bound organelles Absent Present
Cell structure Unicellular Mostly multicellular; some
unicellular
Cell size Smaller (0.1-5 μm) Larger (10-100 μm)

Complexity Simpler More complex

DNA Form Circular Linear

Examples Bacteria, archaea Animals, plants, fungi,
protists

1. Summarize the basic differences (in tabukar form) between prokaryotic and eukaryotic
cells.

2. Cite the applications of prokaryotes in biotechnology.

One of the significant application of prokaryotes in biotechnology is Microbial

bioremediation. It uses prokaryotes to remove pollutants. Agricultural chemicals (pesticides,
fertilizers) that leach into groundwater and the subsurface are removed using bioremediation.
To remove selenium ions from water, reduce SeO4-2 to SeO3-2 and Se0 (metallic selenium).
Mercury is a toxic metal that can be bioremediated. As a pesticide ingredient and byproduct of
battery production, mercury is used in industry. Methyl mercury is present in low
concentrations in natural environments but accumulates in living tissues, making it highly toxic.
Various bacteria can biotransform toxic mercury into nontoxic forms. These bacteria, like
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, can convert Hg+2 into Hg0, which is nontoxic.

The importance of prokaryotes in petroleum bioremediation has been shown in recent

oil spills, such as the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska (1989), the Prestige oil spill in Spain (2002), the
spill into the Mediterranean from a Lebanon power plant (2006), and the BP oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico (2010). Add inorganic nutrients that help bacteria grow to promote bioremediation.
Bacteria that degrade hydrocarbons feed on oil droplets to break them down. Alcanivorax
borkumensis produces surfactants that solubilize oil, while other species degrade oil into
carbon dioxide. In the case of oil spills in the ocean, natural bioremediation occurs because oil-
consuming bacteria were already in the ocean. In addition to naturally occurring oil-degrading
bacteria, humans select and engineer bacteria with increased efficacy and hydrocarbon
processing range. Under ideal conditions, up to 80% of nonvolatile oil components can degrade
in a year after a spill. Other oil fractions with aromatic and highly branched hydrocarbon chains
are harder to remove and last longer in the environment.

3. Predict an advantage and disadvantage on the presence of a capsule in some prokaryotes.

Give at most three (3) examples.

Advantage:

1. It may prevent dehydration by absorbing water and swelling up of a bacterial cell

2. It may interfere with viruses (bacteriophages) which attack bacterial cells and can also cover
cell-surface antigens which mean that phagocytosis is impaired, so that the body's defence
mechanisms are defeated.

Disadvantage:

1. It may be considered a factor of virulence. For instance, Pneumococcus exists in rough (R)
and smooth (S) forms (S). The capsule is produced by the more virulent S form. This distinction
formed the basis for Frederick Griffith's experiment demonstrating bacterial transformation - an
important step in the history of DNA, as demonstrated by Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and
Maclyn McCarter.