Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes: Key Concepts and Characteristics

Binary fission

Asexual reproduction method used by prokaryotes.

Capsule

More organized structure compared to a slime layer.

Thermophiles

Bacteria that are heat loving.

Halophiles

Bacteria that are salt loving.

Conjugation

The transfer of genetic information between cells, not sexual reproduction.

Endospores

Structures resistant to very harsh conditions like heat, dehydration, poison, freezing temperatures.

Prokaryotes

Organisms that include all of the bacteria and archaea.

Taxis

Movement towards or away from stimuli; three main types are chemotaxis, phototaxis, magnetotaxis.

Peptidoglycan

A polymer in bacterial cell walls consisting of modified sugars cross-linked by short polypeptides.

Bacilli

Rod-shaped bacteria.

Cocci

Spherical-shaped bacteria.

Spirilla

Spiral-shaped bacteria.

Gram stain

A specific stain used to identify the peptidoglycan cell wall of bacteria.

Gram positive bacteria

Bacteria in which the cell wall is exposed to the environment.

Flagella

Long cellular appendages specialized for locomotion.

Cyanobacteria

Organisms where plantlike photosynthesis that releases O2 occurs.

Photoautotrophs

Organisms that use light as an energy source and CO2 as a carbon source.

Gram-negative bacterium

A type of bacterium that is light pink in a gram stain and very resistant to antibiotics.

Meiosis

A process that cannot produce genetic variation in a bacterial population.

Nutritional methods

Four types: autotrophic (photosynthetic), heterotrophic (decomposers), heterotrophic (ingestion), mixotrophic (combining photosynthetic and ingestive or absorptive methods).

multicellular

Organisms composed of multiple cells.

mixotrophic

Organisms that can use both autotrophic and heterotrophic methods for nutrition.

unicellular

Organisms consisting of a single cell.

heterotrophic

Organisms that obtain their food by consuming other organisms.

excavates

Characteristics include movement via flagella, a feeding groove, heterotrophic nature, and modified mitochondria.

diplomonads

Free living and symbiotic species characterized by having two nuclei and multiple flagella.

phytoplankton

Eukaryotic autotrophs that float near the surface of water and are the basis of the food chain.

parabasalids

Anaerobic organisms that can be symbiotic or parasitic.

kinetoplastids

Organisms with one flagellum and a single large mitochondrion, including free living and symbiotic species.

euglenids

Most are freshwater organisms with 1-3 flagella, capable of photosynthesis but can switch to heterotrophic in the dark.

ciliates

Organisms that use cilia (hair-like filaments) for movement and feeding.

eukaryotic differences

Eukaryotes have a nucleus with a double membrane, organelles, and two or more chromosomes.

archaeplastids

The closest relatives to land plants.

autotrophs

Organisms that are photosynthetic.

amoebozoans

Four major groups include Acellular slime molds, Cellular slime molds, Tubulinids, and Entamoebas.

tubulinids

Free living and solitary organisms found in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, moving and engulfing food using pseudopodia.

pseudopodia

Temporary, arm-like projections of cytoplasm that help certain organisms move and collect food.

entamoebas

Parasitic organisms for vertebrates and invertebrates, with one species causing amoebic dysentery.

cellular slime molds

Organisms in a haploid ameboid cell state.

acellular slime molds

Organisms in a diploid ameboid mass called plasmodium.

rhizarians

Types include Foraminiferans, Radiolarians, and Cercozoans.

alveolates

Three major groups are Dinoflagellates, Apicomplexans, and Ciliates.

macronucleus

The nucleus in ciliates that performs day-to-day functions.

micronucleus

The nucleus in ciliates responsible for sexual reproduction/conjugation.

stramenopiles

Four types include Diatoms, Golden Algae, Brown Algae, and Oomycetes.

sporopollenin

A layer of durable polymer preventing zygotes from drying out.

charophytes

The closest relatives to plants.

Charophytes

A group of green algae that are closely related to land plants.

Sporopollenin

Layer of durable polymer preventing zygotes from drying out.

Meiosis

The type of cell division that produces haploid spores in Alternation of Generations.

Plant traits differentiating them from green algae

Alternation of generations, walled spores produced by sporangia, apical meristems, cuticle, stomata.

Apical Meristem

The part of the plant where cells divide most repeatedly.

Desiccation

The challenge that plants had to overcome when moving to land.

Gametangia

Single-Celled in algae, multicellular in most plants.

Non-Vascular plants

Also referred to as Bryophytes.

Sporopollenin in charophytes

Protects zygotes from desiccation.

Lycophytes

The phylogenetic clade that includes club mosses.

Monilophytes

The phylogenetic clade that includes ferns.

Seed plants characteristics

Water no longer required for reproduction, seeds replace spores, gametophyte phase greatly reduced.

Pollen

Allowed seeded vascular plants to break their ties with water by being dispersed by wind or animals.

Megaspores

Give rise to the female gametophyte (ovule).

Microspores

Give rise to the male gametophyte (pollen grain).

Heterosporous

True or False: The spores in seed plants are heterosporous (two types).

Female gametophyte

Contains the egg cell.

Male gametophyte

Contains sperm.

Gymnosperms

Non-flowering plants.

Angiosperms

Flowering plants.

Difference in seeds between gymnosperms and angiosperms

Gymnosperm seeds have no extra outer covering and are referred to as 'naked' seeds; angiosperms have an additional covering referred to as the fruit.

Seed coat

Protection and allows for appropriate time of germination.

Stored food in angiosperms

Triploid: arises from combination of male and female gametophyte material.

Major groups of gymnosperms

Coniferophytes, cycadophytes, ginkgophytes, and gnetophytes.

Most successful group of gymnosperms

Conifers because of their ability to live under a wide variety of conditions.

Generations of plants in gymnosperms life cycle

Three.

Microphylls

Found in lycophytes.

Monocots

One cotyledon, leaves narrow and elongated with parallel veins, petals in multiples of threes.

Dicots

Two cotyledons, leaves round shaped with reticulate veins, petals in multiples of three or five.