Synonyms
Definition
Prokaryote (from Greek pro [before] and karyon [nucleus]) denotes organisms that lack a membrane-enclosed nucleus, as well as other organelles.
Overview
Cellular life is represented by three lines of descent: the domains Bacteria , Archaea , and Eukarya . Two of them (Bacteria and Archaea) are embraced by the term “prokaryote,” a term that has no standing in the taxonomic hierarchy. From the phylogenetic reconstructions based on the analysis of the ribosomal small subunit gene sequences, it seems that both domains differ dramatically in their evolutionary history (see Fig. 1). In this regard, Archaea and Eukarya seem to share a common ancestor, whereas Bacteriaseem to be an independent line of descent. In contrast to eukaryotic cells, prokaryotes have a simpler internal structure, lacking membrane-enclosed organelles. Prokaryotes do not develop or differentiate into multicellular forms. Some grow in filaments, or masses of cells, but each cell in the...
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References and Further Reading
Cavicchioli R (2007) Archaea molecular and cellular biology. ASM Press, Herndon
Garrity GM (2001) Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology, 2nd edn. Springer, New York
Lengeler JW, Drews G, Schlegel HG (1999) Biology of the prokaryotes. Blackwell Science, Stuttgart
Madigan MT, Martinko JM, Parker J (2003) Brock biology of microorganisms, 10th edn. Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River
Wheelis ML, Kandler O, Woese CR (1992) On the nature of global classification. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89:2930–2934
Whitman WB, Coleman DC, Wiebe WJ (1998) Prokaryotes: the unseen majority. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:6578–6583
Woese CR (1987) Bacterial evolution. Microbiol Rev 51:221–271
Woese CR (1998) The universal ancestor. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:6854–6859
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Rosselló-Móra, R. (2014). Prokaryote. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1280-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1280-4
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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