Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. [1] The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in reinforcing the DNA during cell division , preventing DNA damage , and regulating gene expression ...
The division between prokaryotes and eukaryotes has been considered the most important distinction or difference among organisms. The distinction is that eukaryotic cells have a "true" nucleus containing their DNA, whereas prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus. [52]
Cells are broadly categorized into two types: eukaryotic cells, which possess a nucleus, and prokaryotic cells, which lack a nucleus but have a nucleoid region. Prokaryotes are single-celled organisms such as bacteria, whereas eukaryotes can be either single-celled, such as amoebae, or multicellular, such as some algae, plants, animals, and fungi.
Genomic DNA is tightly and orderly packed in the process called DNA condensation, to fit the small available volumes of the cell. In eukaryotes, DNA is located in the cell nucleus, with small amounts in mitochondria and chloroplasts. In prokaryotes, the DNA is held within an irregularly shaped body in the cytoplasm called the nucleoid. [97]
Due to their structural differences, eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells do not divide in the same way. Also, the pattern of cell division that transforms eukaryotic stem cells into gametes (sperm cells in males or egg cells in females), termed meiosis, is different from that of the division of somatic cells in the body. Cell division over 42.
The nucleoid (meaning nucleus-like) is an irregularly shaped region within the prokaryotic cell that contains all or most of the genetic material. [1] [2] [3] The chromosome of a typical prokaryote is circular, and its length is very large compared to the cell dimensions, so it needs to be compacted in order to fit.
Nuclear pores are found in the nuclear envelope that surrounds the cell nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The nuclear envelope is studded by a great number of nuclear pores that give access to various molecules, to and from the nucleoplasm and the cytoplasm. Small molecules can diffuse easily but other larger molecules need to be transported across. [1]
The concentrated inner area is called the endoplasm and the outer layer is called the cell cortex, or ectoplasm. Movement of calcium ions in and out of the cytoplasm is a signaling activity for metabolic processes. [3] In plants, movement of the cytoplasm around vacuoles is known as cytoplasmic streaming.