Prokaryotic (bacterial) cells

Prokaryotic cells are a group of single celled organisms. Their names come from the
Greek word meaning "first animals." Prokaryotic cells were first seen in the
1600s.

At least 20,000 species of Prokaryotes have been identified. You can find them in moist
places like the ocean, fresh water, soil, and inside plants and animals. Most
Prokaryotes can only be be seen under a microscope. They come in all different
shapes.

Pro = “before”, karyon = “nucleus”

Prokaryotes were the first type of cell to evolve, and unlike eukaryotic cells, still lack a
membrane bound nucleus. Their genetic material is naked within the cytoplasm,
ribosomes their only type of organelle.

Artist's rendition of a eukaryotic animal cell

All eubacteria have an inner (plasma) membrane which serves as a semi permeable
barrier allowing small nonpolar and polar molecules such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and
glycerol to diffuse across (down their concentration gradients), but does not allow the

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diffusion of larger polar molecules (sugars, amino acids, and so on) or inorganic ions
such as Na+, K+, Cl-, Ca2+ (sodium, potassium, chlorine, calcium). The plasma membrane,
which is a lipid bilayer, utilizes Tran membrane transporter and channel proteins to
facilitate the movement of these molecules. Eubacteria can be further separated into two
classes based on their ability to retain the dye crystal violet. Gram-positive cells retain the
dye; their cell surface includes the inner plasma membrane and a cell wall composed of
multiple layers of peptidoglycan. Gram-negative bacteria are surrounded by two
membranes: the inner (plasma) membrane and an outer membrane that allows the passage
of molecules of less than 1000 molecular weight through porin protein channels. Between
the inner and outer membranes is the peptidoglycan-rich cell wall and the periplasmic
space.

Eubacteria contain a single circular double-stranded molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid

(DNA), or a single chromosome. As prokaryotic cells lack a nucleus, this genomic DNA
resides in a central region of the cell called the nucleoid. The bacterial genome contains
all the necessary information to maintain the structure and function of the cell.

Prokaryotic cells reproduce very rapidly. They reproduce asexually. Protisits were
probably the first eukaryotic cells and evolved from prokaryotes as early as 2.1
billion years ago.

A cell lacking a membrane-bounded nucleus or membrane-bounded organelles.

Prokaryotic cells are thus more primitive than eukaryotic cells, which evolved
from them. A prokaryotic organism, such as a bacterium, consists of single
prokaryotic cell.

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. A general prokaryotic cell can be considered to have three architectural regions, though
not all the components are always present:

• a cell envelope consisting of a capsule, a cell wall, and a cell membrane

• a cytoplasmic region that contains the cell genome (DNA), ribosomes, and
various sorts of inclusions
• appendages, sometimes present, called flagella and pili

In a prokaryotic cell, most of the functions of organelles, such as mitochondria,

chloroplasts, and the Golgi apparatus, are taken over by the prokaryotic cell membrane.
Prokaryotes are divided taxonomically into two large goups: the archaebacteria and the
eubacteria. Archaebacteria are probably little changed from the organisms that first
evolved billions of years ago. They are capable of living in extremely harsh
environments, such as salt marshes, hot springs, or even beneath the ice. Eubacteria
evolved later. Some are photosynthetic bacteria; some are chemosynthetic bacteria,
making carbohydrates from other chemicals besides carbon dioxide; and some are
heterotrophic bacteria, deriving nutrients from the environment. Heterotrophic
prokaryotes include some pathogens, bacteria that cause diseases, such as pneumonia,
food poisoning, and tuberculosis.

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Structure

The sizes of prokaryotes relative to other organisms and biomolecules

Recent research indicates that all prokaryotes actually do have cytoskeletons, albeit more
primitive than those of eukaryotes. Besides homologues of actin and tubulin (MreB and
FtsZ) the helically arranged building block of the flagellum, flagellin, is one of the most
significant cytoskeleton proteins of bacteria as it provides structural backgrounds of
chemo taxis, the basic cell physiological response of bacteria. At least some prokaryotes
also contain intracellular structures which can be seen as primitive organelles.
Membranous organelles (a.k.a. intracellular membranes) are known in some groups of
prokaryotes, such as vacuoles or membrane systems devoted to special metabolic
properties, e.g. photosynthesis or chemolithotrophy. Additionally, some species also
contain protein-enclosed micro compartments, which have distinct physiological roles
(e.g. carboxysomes or gas vacuoles). Most prokaryotes are between 1 µm and 10 µm, but
they can vary in size from 0.2 µm to 750 µm.

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Prokaryotic Cell Structure

Bacterial Cell Structure

Prokaryotes are single-celled organisms that are the earliest and most primitive forms of
life on earth. As organized in the Three Domain System, prokaryotes include bacteria and
archaeans. Prokaryotes are able to live and thrive in various types of environments
including extreme habitats such as hydrothermal vents, hot springs, swamps, wetlands,
and the guts of animals.
Prokaryotic cells are not as complex as eukaryotic cells. They have no true nucleus as the
DNA is not contained within a membrane or separated from the rest of the cell, but is
coiled up in a region of the cytoplasm called the nucleoid. Using bacteria as our sample
prokaryote, the following structures can be found in bacterial cells:

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• Capsule - Capsules are formed from polysaccharides firmly attached to the cell
wall. They adhere to solid surfaces and to nutrients in the environment. The
adhesive power of capsules is a major factor in the initiation of some bacterial
diseases. Found in some bacterial cells, this additional outer covering protects the
cell when it is engulfed by other organisms, assists in retaining moisture, and
helps the cell adhere to surfaces and nutrients.

• Cell Wall - Outer covering of most cells that protects the bacterial cell and gives
it shape. his rigid structure of prokaryotes contains peptidoglycan giving the cell
shape and surrounding the cytoplasmic membrane. The cell wall provides the cell
with protection from environment.
• Cytoplasm –

A gel-like substance composed mainly of water that also contains enzymes, salts,
cell components, and various organic molecules. This gel matrix is also known as
protoplasm, and consists of water, enzymes, nutrients, wastes, gases and cell
structures. It is the location of growth, metabolism, and replication.

• Cell Membrane or Plasma Membrane –

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 Just inside the cell wall, the plasma membrane is a selective barrier which
regulates the passage of materials to from the cell. It is through this membrane
that a cell must exchange food molecules, gases and other vital ingredients.
Composed of phospholipid and protein membranes form thin, flexible, self-
sealing, highly selective barriers between the inside of the cell and the outside
world.

Surrounds the cell's cytoplasm and regulates the flow of substances in and out of
the cell. A phospholipids bilayer separates the cell from its environment.
Phospholipids molecules are oriented so that hydrophilic (water-loving) heads are
directed outward and hydrophobic (water-hating) tails are directed inward.
Proteins and other molecules make up the fluid mosaic moving among the two
layers of lipids. The plasma membrane is selectively permeable to allow
substances to pass into and out of the cell.

• Pili - Hair-like structures on the surface of the cell that attach to other bacterial
cells. Shorter pili called fimbriae help bacteria attach to surfaces. shorter, finer
appendages that surround the cells of some gram-negative bacteria. They have no
role in motility, but permit microbes to adhere to solid surfaces.

• Flagella -

Long, whip-like protrusion that aids in cellular locomotion. Long, thin extensions
that allow bacteria to move about freely in aqueous environments. Some

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 prokaryotes propel themselves by means of whip-like filaments called flagella.
These are strands of protein that pass though the outer surface of the cell body
either either singly or in tufts. Energy provided by the plasma membrane rotates
the flagellum by means of a unique rotating 'joint' and this in turn moves the
bacterium through its liquid world. Prokaryotic flagella are very different from
similar looking structures used by eukaryotic cells.

• Ribosome’s - Cell structures responsible for protein production. These ribose

sugar bodies are made of rRNA and proteins and exist either free within
cytoplasm or attached to the plasma membrane. Ribosome’s translate genetic
code into proteins. They are composed of a small (30S) subunit and a large (50S)
subunit and each cell may contain thousands.

• Plasmids - Gene carrying, circular DNA structures that are not involved in
reproduction. This is a small extra piece of genetic material, typically 5 - 100
genes that are not critical to everyday functions. Plasmids can provide “bonus”
genetic information, such as antibiotic resistance, virulence factors (molecules
produced by pathogen that helps the invader thrive) or can promote conjugation
(transfer of genetic material between bacteria).
• Nucleiod Region - Area of the cytoplasm that contains the single bacterial DNA
molecule.

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Binary Fission of Prokaryotic Cells

E. coli bacteria undergoing binary fission. The cell wall is dividing resulting in the
formation of two cells.

Most prokaryotes reproduce asexually through a process called binary fission. During
binary fission, the single DNA molecule replicates and the original cell is divided into
two identical cells.

• Binary fission begins with the single DNA molecule replicating and both copies
attaching to the cell membrane.

• Next, the cell membrane begins to grow between the two DNA molecules. Once
the bacterium just about doubles its original size, the cell membrane begins to
pinch inward.

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 • A cell wall then forms between the two DNA molecules dividing the original cell
into two identical daughter cells.

Different Prokaryotes (Cells)

The cells which are composed of primitively Organised cytoplasm and nucleus, viz., the
nuclear substances (i.e., DNA and RNA) do not remain isolated or separated from the
cytoplasm which lacks in mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex,
lysosomes, centrioles, etc., by any nuclear membrane, are called prokaryotic cells. The
prokaryotic cells in blue green algae and bacteria. The bacteria have great economic
significance for man, so deserve somewhat detailed discussion.

Bacteria
The bacteria are microscopic, achlorophyllous, single-celled living forms which occur in
almost each and every abiotic (e.g., air, water and earth) and biotic (e.g., plants and
animals) ecological habitats of earth.

The bacteria may be of rod-like bacilli, spherical cocci or spiral spirilla and spirochetes
shapes. The bacilli (rod-shaped bacteria) cause various fatal diseases such as diphtheria,
typhoid fever tuberculosis, leprosy, etc., in man.The best example of spherical formed
bacteria (cocci) is the gonococcus the cocci causing gonorrhea in man. The best example
of spirochetes (corkscrew-shaped spiral bacteria) is syphilis causing bacteria. Typically
the prokaryotic cells of bacteria at ultra-structural level have an outer covering and
cytoplasm. The outer' covering has three layers : an our most slimy layer of
polysaccharides; a middle strong and rigid cell wall which beside having lipids,
carbohydrates, proteins, phosphorus and certain mineral salts, has a specific amino acid
called diaminopimelic acid and a derivative glucose called muramic acid; and an inner
lipoproteinous plasma membrane. The dense and colloidal cytoplasm of bacterial cells
has granules of glycogen, protein and rats but lacks mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum
and other subcellular entities except ribosomes.

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The ribosomes occur freely in cytoplasm. In the central portion of cytoplasm of the
bacterial cells occur one or two (cocci have one; bacilli have two) nucleus like clear
zones, each of which contains a single, large, circular, double stranded DNA molecule
(usually are called bacterial chromosome) and is called nucloid. Some bacteria have
flagella for locomotion.From the nourishment point of view the bacteria are autotrophic,
saprotrophic and parasitic on plants and animals. Much of our present understanding of
the molecular genetics has been gained from studies of a bacil1us bacterium called
Escherichia coli.
Escherichia coli is a non-pathogenic intestinal parasite of man and other mammals and is
probably one of the main reasons for its popularity as an experimental object among
molecular biologists and biochemists. Further it has rapid proliferation rate and is easy to
culture in laboratory conditions.

Here,

A. 30S Subunit
B. 50S Subunit
C. Protein Molecules
D. DNA Molecule
E. RNA
F. Polysome
G. Respiratory Chain Enzymes
H. Cell Wall
I. Cytoplasmic Matrix
J. RNA

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K. Plasma Membrane

As mentioned above, prokaryotes include the kingdoms of Monera (simple bacteria)

and Archaea. Simply stated, prokaryotes are molecules surrounded by a membrane
and cell wall. Prokaryotic cells lack characteristic eukaryotic subcellular membrane
enclosed "organelles", but may contain membrane systems inside a cell wall.

Prokaryotic cells may have photosynthetic pigments, such as is found in

cyanobacteria ("blue-green bacteria"). Some prokaryotic cells have external whip-
like flagella for locomotion or hair like pili for adhesion. Prokaryotic cells come in
multiple shapes: cocci (round), baccilli (rods), and spirilla or spirochetes (helical
cells).

Sympathy for the life of bacteria

• You have 0.001 times as much DNA as a eukaryotic cell.

• You live in a medium which has a viscosity about equal to asphalt.
• You sometimes have a wonderful motor" for swimming. Unfortunately, your
motor can only run in two directions and at one speed. In forward, you are
propelled in one direction at 30 mph. In reverse your motor makes you turn flips
or tumble. You can only do one or the other. You cannot stop.
• While you can "learn", you divide every twenty minutes and have to restart your
education.
• You can have sex, with males possessing a sexual apparatus for transferring
genetic information to receptive females. However, since you are both going 30
mph it is difficult to find each other. Furthermore, if you are male, nature gave
you a severe problem. Every time you mate with a female, she turns into a male.
In bacteria, "maleness" is an infective venereal disease. Also, at fairly high
frequencies, spontaneous mutations cause you to turn into a female.

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 • Eukaryotes have enslaved some of your "brethren" to use as energy generating
mitochondria and chloroplasts. They are also using you as a tool in a massive
effort to understand genetics. The method of recombinant DNA is designed to
exploit you for their own good.
• The last laugh may be yours. You have spent three and a half billion years
practicing chemical warfare. Humans thought that antibiotics would end
infectious diseases, but the overuse of drugs has resulted in the selection of drug
resistant bacteria. They didn't realize that this was only the first battle, and now
the war is ready to begin.
• Humans think this is their era. A more truthful statement would be that we all live in
the

Relationship to Eukaryotes

A distinction between prokaryotes and eukaryotes (meaning true kernel, also spelled
"eucaryotes") is that eukaryotes do have "true" nuclei containing their DNA, whereas the
genetic material in prokaryotes is not membrane-bound. Eukaryotic organisms may be
unicellular, as in amoebae, or multicellular, as in plants and animals. The difference
between the structure of prokaryotes and eukaryotes is so great that it is sometimes
considered to be the most important distinction among groups of organisms. However, a
criticism of this classification is that the word "prokaryote" is based on what these
organisms are not (they are not eukaryotic), rather than what they are (either archaea or
bacteria).[3] In 1977, Carl Woese proposed dividing prokaryotes into the Bacteria and
Archaea (originally Eubacteria and Archaebacteria) because of the major differences in
the structure and genetics between the two groups of organisms. This arrangement of
Eukaryota (also called "Eukarya"), Bacteria, and Archaea is called the three-domain
system replacing the traditional two-empire system.

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The cell structure of prokaryotes differs greatly from that of eukaryotes. The defining
characteristic is the absence of a nucleus. The genomes of prokaryotes are held within an
irregular DNA/protein complex in the cytosol called the nucleoid, which lacks a nuclear
envelope. Prokaryotes generally lack membrane-bound cell compartments: such as
mitochondria and chloroplasts. Instead processes such as oxidative phosphorylation and
photosynthesis take place across the prokaryotic plasma membrane. However,
prokaryotes do possess some internal structures, such as cytoskeletons, and the bacterial
order Planctomycetes have a membrane around their nucleoid and contain other
membrane-bound cellular structures. Both eukaryotes and prokaryotes contain large
RNA/protein structures called ribosomes, which produce protein. Prokaryotes are usually
much smaller than eukaryotic cells.

Prokaryotes also differ from eukaryotes in that they contain only a single loop of stable
chromosomal DNA stored in an area named the nucleoid, while eukaryote DNA is found
on tightly bound and organized chromosomes. Although some eukaryotes have satellite
DNA structures called plasmids, these are generally regarded as a prokaryote feature, and
many important genes in prokaryotes are stored on plasmids.

Prokaryotes have a larger surface-area-to-volume ratio giving them a higher metabolic

rate, a higher growth rate and consequently a shorter generation time compared to
Eukaryotes.

Sociality

While prokaryotes are still commonly imagined to be strictly unicellular, most are
capable of forming stable aggregate communities. When such communities are encased
in a stabilizing polymer matrix (“slime”), they may be called “biofilms”. Cells in biofilms
often show distinct patterns of gene expression (phenotypic differentiation) in time and

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space. Also, like multicellular eukaryotes, these changes in expression appear to often
result from cell-to-cell signaling, a phenomenon known as quorum sensing.

Biofilms may be highly heterogeneous and structurally complex and may attach to solid
surfaces, or exist at liquid-air interfaces, or potentially even liquid-liquid interfaces.
Bacterial biofilms are often made up of microcolonies (approximately dome-shaped
masses of bacteria and matrix) separated by “voids” through which the medium (e.g.
water) may flow relatively uninhibited. The microcolonies may join together above the
substratum to form a continuous layer, closing the network of channels separating
microcolonies. This structural complexity—combined with observations that oxygen
limitation (a ubiquitous challenge for anything growing in size beyond the scale of
diffusion) is at least partially eased by movement of medium throughout the biofilm—has
[10]
led some to speculate that this may constitute a circulatory system and many
[11]
researchers have started calling prokaryotic communities multicellular (for example ).
Differential cell expression, collective behavior, signaling, programmed cell death, and
(in some cases) discrete biological dispersal events all seem to point in this direction.
However, these colonies are seldom if ever founded by a single founder (in the way that
animals and plants are founded by single cells), which presents a number of theoretical
issues. Most explanations of co-operation and the evolution of multicellularity have
focused on high relatedness between members of a group (or colony, or whole organism).
If a copy of a gene is present in all members of a group, behaviors that promote
cooperation between members may permit those members to have (on average) greater
fitness than a similar group of selfish individuals [12] (see inclusive fitness and Hamilton's
rule).

Should these instances of prokaryotic sociality prove to be the rule rather than the
exception it would have serious implications for the way we view prokaryotes in general
and the way we deal with them in medicine. Bacterial biofilms may be 100x more
resistant to antibiotics than free-living unicells and may be nearly impossible to remove
from surfaces once they have colonized them[13]. Other aspects of bacterial cooperation—
such as bacterial conjugation and quorum-sensing mediated pathogenicity—present

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additional challenges to researchers and medical professionals seeking to treat the
associated diseases.

Reproduction
Bacteria and archaea reproduce through asexual reproduction, usually by binary fission or
budding. Genetic exchange and recombination still occur, but this is a form of horizontal
gene transfer and is not a replicative process, simply involving DNA being transferred
between two cells, as in bacterial conjugation.

Morphology of prokaryotic cells

Prokaryotic cells have various shapes; the four basic shapes are:

• Cocci - spherical
• Bacilli - rod shaped
• Spirochaete - spiral shaped
• Vibrio - comma shaped

Environment

Prokaryotes live in nearly all environments on earth where there is liquid water. Some
archaea and bacteria thrive in harsh conditions, such as high temperatures (thermophiles)
or high salinity (halophiles). Organisms such as these are referred to as extremophiles.
Many archaea grow as plankton in the oceans. Symbiotic prokaryotes live in or on the
bodies of other organisms, including humans.

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Evolution of prokaryotes

Phylogenetic tree showing the diversity of prokaryotes, compared to eukaryotes.

The current model of the evolution of the first living organisms is that these were some
form of prokaryotes, which may have evolved out of protobionts. The eukaryotes are
generally thought to have evolved later in the history of life. [15] However, some authors
have questioned this conclusion, arguing that the current set of prokaryotic species may
have evolved from more complex eukaryotic ancestors through a process of
simplification.[16][17][18] Others have argued that the three domains of life arose
simultaneously, from a set of varied cells that formed a single a gene pool.[19] This
controversy was summarized in 2005:[20]

There is no consensus among biologists concerning the position of the eukaryotes in the
overall scheme of cell evolution. Current opinions on the origin and position of
eukaryotes span a broad spectrum including the views that eukaryotes arose first in
evolution and that prokaryotes descend from them, that eukaryotes arose
contemporaneously with eubacteria and archeabacteria and hence represent a primary line
of descent of equal age and rank as the prokaryotes, that eukaryotes arose through a
symbiotic event entailing an endosymbiotic origin of the nucleus, that eukaryotes arose

17
without endosymbiosis, and that eukaryotes arose through a symbiotic event entailing a
simultaneous endosymbiotic origin of the flagellum and the nucleus, in addition to many
other models, which have been reviewed and summarized elsewhere.

The oldest known fossilized prokaryotes were laid down approximately 3.5 billion years
ago, only about 1 billion years after the formation of the Earth's crust. Even today,
prokaryotes are perhaps the most successful and abundant life forms.[citation needed]

Eukaryotes only appear in the fossil record later, and may have formed from
endosymbiosis of multiple prokaryote ancestors. The oldest known fossil eukaryotes are
about 1.7 billion years old. However, some genetic evidence suggests eukaryotes
appeared as early as 3 billion years ago.[21]

While Earth is the only place in the universe where life is known to exist, some have
suggested that there is evidence on Mars of fossil or living prokaryotes;[22][23] but this
possibility remains the subject of considerable debate and skepticism.[24][25]

Prokaryotes have diversified greatly throughout their long existence. The metabolism of
prokaryotes is far more varied than that of eukaryotes, leading to many highly distinct
prokaryotic types. For example, in addition to using photosynthesis or organic
compounds for energy, as eukaryotes do, prokaryotes may obtain energy from inorganic
compounds such as hydrogen sulfide. This enables prokaryotes to thrive in harsh
environments as cold as the snow surface of Antarctica, and as hot as undersea
hydrothermal vents and land-based hot springs.

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