Describe features of prokaryotes that enable them to thrive in a wide range of different environments.
To describe: The features of prokaryotes to enable them to thrive in varied environments.
Introduction: Prokaryotes are small unicellular organisms that exhibit peculiar features in their structural organization that make them adapt to a varied range of different environments. These features include the presence of peptidoglycans cell wall, flagella, endospore formation, and resistant genes in plasmids.
Explanation of Solution
The cell walls of prokaryotes are peptidoglycan in nature, which protect the cell, maintain its shape, and prevent it from bursting into the hypotonic environment. In many prokaryotes, the cell wall is surrounded by a sticky coat of polysaccharides or protein, which is known as a capsule. The capsule and slime layers protect the organisms against dehydration and attack their host immune system. Certain bacteria exhibit the property of endospore formation, which enables them to cope up with scarcity of water and nutrients. During the endospore formation, the entire water content is removed to halt the metabolism of bacteria, so that they can survive in the extreme environment in a dormant stage and regain viability even after centuries when they resume their metabolism in a favorable environment. The prokaryotes exhibit short generation time with a large population size, which results in the new mutations to increase the genetic diversity to adapt the variations in a local environment, and thus leading to the evolution. Although the bacteria contain a single chromosome, they may also contain plasmids to carry few genes that provide them antibiotic resistance.
There are several features that help the prokaryotes to survive in extreme conditions.
Want to see more full solutions like this?
Chapter 27 Solutions
CAMPBELL BIOLOGY SFC PACKAGE >CUSTOM<
- Explain how prokaryotic cells obtain nutrients and how thisprocess puts constraints on their size.arrow_forwardExplain how various types of algae differ from one another and from other members of the eukaryotic microbial world.arrow_forwardList 5 features of Archaea that clearly differentiate the members of this domain from Bacteria (as it relates to replication, transcription, and translation).arrow_forward
- Identify three features that distinguish archaeal plasma membranes from those of bacteria.arrow_forwardWhat specialized intracellular components would increase the fitness of prokaryotes dwelling in these particular microenvironments? Name at least one for each example. a. Gut-inhabiting enterobacteria b. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria in damp soilarrow_forwardExplain the characteristics of archaea that indicate that they constitutea unique domain of living things that is neither bacterial noreukaryotic.arrow_forward
- What terms would describe a prokaryote that has is covered in a thick peptidoglycan layer, gets it's energy from eating other prokaryotes, and does not need oxygen to survive?arrow_forwardArchaea exhibit a wide variety of cell shapes, including some that are unique. Suggest why this diversity exists and what advantages the unique shapes might confer.arrow_forward
- Concepts of BiologyBiologyISBN:9781938168116Author:Samantha Fowler, Rebecca Roush, James WisePublisher:OpenStax College