What Does prokaryotic cell Mean
Before getting to know the meaning of the term prokaryotic cell, it is necessary to know the etymological origin of the two words that give it its shape:
-Cell is a word that derives from Latin, specifically from "cellula", which can be translated as "small cell" . It is formed from the noun "cella", which is synonymous with "cell", and the diminutive "-ula".
-Procariot, on the other hand, is a neologism formed from the following Greek root components: “pro-”, which can be translated as “before”; the word "karuon", which is synonymous with "nut" and "tes" which is equivalent to "agent".
The essential units of living beings, capable of reproducing independently, are called cells . These microscopic units have a region known as the cytoplasm and a nucleus .
The prokaryotic cells are those whose core is not enclosed or defined . In this way they differ from eukaryotic cells , which do have a delimited cell nucleus separated from the cytoplasm.
It is important to mention that, in the nucleus, the cell houses genetic information. In the case of prokaryotic or prokaryotic cells , as they do not have a defined nucleus, this material is distributed in a region of the cytoplasm known as the nucleoid .
In most prokaryotic cells it is possible to distinguish the cell wall , the plasma membrane , the cytoplasm (with the nucleoid ), the ribosomes and the so-called prokaryotic compartments .
In addition to all the above, we can establish that prokaryotic cells have two types of food:
-Autotrophic feeding , which means that they can feed themselves. Specifically, they can do it using organic matter, making use of what sunlight is through what is known as photosynthesis or using inorganic matter.
-Heterotrophic feeding. This takes place when these prokaryotic cells need other organisms, which they parasitize, to be able to nourish themselves as they need to live. This type of parasitization can be of various types: symbiotic nutrition, which is when cells and organisms “come to an agreement” because both benefit; saprophytic nutrition, which takes place when there is a process of decomposition of the organism; and parasitic nutrition, which is when it parasitizes the body without causing death.
As for what is reproduction, it can also be of two types: parasexual or asexual.
Biologists link prokaryotic cells with the origin of life and argue that the appearance of eukaryotic cells enabled the development of more complex organisms. The process that allowed the creation of eukaryotic cells is called eukaryogenesis .
There was, according to one hypothesis , a "last universal common ancestor" : LUCA , according to the acronym in English. This would be a prokaryotic unicellular organism from which the rest of living beings descend.
The vast majority of single-celled organisms are, in fact, still prokaryotes. The bacteria , for example, are prokaryotes. They are made up of prokaryotic cells, with their genetic material dispersed in the cytoplasm area.
The archaea are other organisms with prokaryotic cells. Previously they were considered bacteria but later, when several differences were discovered with these organisms, these types of domains were “independent” in the Archaea domain .